7 things you need to know on Tadawul today

Here are a few things you need to know as Saudi stocks start trading on Wednesday. 

1) Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has appointed Mohammed bin Salman as the Kingdom’s crown prince, the official Saudi Press Agency said on Wednesday.

2) Global index compiler MSCI on Tuesday added Saudi Arabia to a watch list for a potential upgrade to emerging market status, a move that could open the doors to billions of dollars of funds inflow.

3) Riyad Bank’s board of directors recommended on Tuesday issuing a 3.5 percent cash dividend (SAR 0.35 per share) for the first half of 2017, amounting to a total of SAR 1.05 billion. 

4) Gulf Union Cooperative Insurance Co. and Al Ahlia for Cooperative Insurance signed on Tuesday a non-binding agreement to start the due diligence and feasibility studies required for a potential merger, both companies said in separate statements to Tadawul.

5) Arabian Aramco Total Services Co. (AATSC) has partially redeemed SAR 101.9 million worth of sukuk, the company said on Tuesday. The payment represents 2.72 percent of the aggregate nominal value of the sukuk payment, which is due every six months.

6) The number of individual investors on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) reached 4.63 million in Q1 2017, up slightly from the end of 2016, data from the Capital Market Authority (CMA), the kingdom’s market regulator, showed.

7) Oil prices declined further on Wednesday, with Brent crude slipping below $46-mark. The benchmark grade was last down 0.2 percent at $45.91/bbl while WTI crude fell 0.2 percent to $43.44/bbl.