NEW YORK, Dec. 27, 2025, 9:25 a.m. ET — Market closed
Saudi Arabia’s stock market is heading into its weekend pause with investors focused on three forces that have dominated recent sessions: softer oil, bank-heavy index performance, and thin year‑end liquidity. The Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) is closed on Fridays and Saturdays and reopens Sunday in Riyadh, meaning the next burst of price discovery will land while U.S. markets remain shut for the weekend.
Tadawul closes the week lower, while Nomu outperforms
Saudi equities ended Thursday’s session slightly in the red, with the Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) down 14.63 points, or 0.14%, to close at 10,526.09. The MSCI Tadawul 30 Index slipped 0.26% to 1,389.66, while the parallel market (Nomu) outperformed, rising 1.02% to 23,430.93.
Market breadth was negative on the main market, with 156 decliners versus 99 gainers, and trading activity continued to cool: about 80.46 million shares changed hands for roughly SR1.66 billion ($442 million) in value.
Among the notable movers, Saudi Industrial Export Co. led gainers on the day, while Methanol Chemicals Co. (Chemanol) topped the losers’ list.
What moved Saudi stocks: oil pressure, bank drag, and holiday-thinned flows
Across the Gulf, Reuters reported that weaker oil prices and holiday-thinned volumes weighed on sentiment, as Christmas holidays kept many foreign investors sidelined. In Saudi Arabia, Reuters noted the Tadawul benchmark fell 0.1% on Thursday, with Saudi National Bank down 0.9% and Saudi Aramco down 0.3%—two heavyweight components that can steer index direction even on modest moves.
That “thin tape” dynamic matters in late December. Daniel Takieddine, co-founder and CEO at Sky Links Capital Group, told Reuters that liquidity could remain limited into year-end and markets may stay range-bound in coming sessions—an observation that fits recent stop‑start trading patterns in Saudi large caps. Reuters
A day earlier, Saudi’s index snapped a short winning streak: Reuters reported TASI fell 0.5% on Wednesday, with declines across most sectors. Milad Azar, an analyst at XTB MENA, said improved oil prices and expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts in 2026 initially helped sentiment, but concerns about crude oversupply could continue to weigh on the market. Reuters also highlighted how U.S. monetary policy expectations matter for the Gulf because many regional currencies are pegged to the dollar.
Corporate headlines investors are digesting before Sunday’s open
Even in a subdued index session, company-specific news can set up sharp moves once the market reopens.
Saudi Cable: restructuring developments and a trading halt
Saudi Cable Company disclosed a significant update tied to its financial restructuring: it said a new request to terminate the financial restructuring procedure was accepted, and the court ruled to accept the company’s request to terminate that procedure, noting the judgment was verbal and the instrument would follow later. The company also said it would contact 790 creditors with proven claims regarding payment procedures, while noting that under bankruptcy law an interested party may file an objection within 14 days from the decision date.
Separately, Saudi Cable’s shares were suspended on Thursday at the company’s request ahead of an anticipated material-event disclosure, with the trading resumption expected after the weekend.
Chemanol: capital reduction plan updated to address accumulated losses
Chemanol issued an updated statement connected to a capital reduction proposal aimed at addressing accumulated losses. The company said its board amended a previous recommendation and issued a new recommendation to reduce capital based on accumulated losses amounting to 85.7% as reflected in third-quarter results ending Sept. 30, 2025. The plan includes canceling 52,450,863 shares (a 77.8% reduction rate) and using part of the statutory reserve, with the company saying it would announce submission of the capital reduction application to the Capital Market Authority (CMA) in due course.
ACWA Power: strategic consolidation in water & power infrastructure
ACWA Power announced it signed a share purchase agreement to acquire Badeel’s entire 32% stake in Shuaibah Water and Electricity Company for SAR 843.32 million (before price adjustment), lifting ACWA Power’s ownership from 30% to 62%. The company said the asset carries limited operating risk with contracted cash inflows until 2030, and that the transaction is expected to add to earnings and free cash flow.
In addition, Arab News reported ACWA Power completed the financial close for a reverse osmosis desalination project (Ras Mohaisen First Water Desalination Co.) with total funding of SR2.07 billion and a tenor of up to 29.5 years, with ACWA Power holding an effective 45% equity stake.
A contract pipeline theme: services tied to Aramco activity
Arab News also highlighted a 24‑month contract signed by Consolidated Grunenfelder Saady Holding Co. with Saudi Aramco Nabors Drilling, valued at SR166 million (excluding VAT), with the financial impact expected to begin from the first quarter of 2026.
The bigger setup: 2026 narrative collides with late‑2025 reality
Saudi equities are ending 2025 with investors debating whether “soft oil + tight liquidity” is a temporary headwind—or a longer phase that forces a repricing of the market’s growth story.
One angle: the IPO cycle is cooling. The Financial Times reported Middle East IPO activity fell sharply in 2025 versus 2024, citing weaker oil prices, underperformance among newly listed companies, and fewer blockbuster state-backed offerings. Saudi Arabia’s IPO count was described as steadier than some peers, but the broader regional slowdown has weighed on confidence.
Another angle: year‑end positioning can amplify moves. With liquidity already light, the market can overreact to single-stock headlines—especially in smaller names—or mechanically rebalance around index heavyweights like banks and energy.
What investors should know before the next Tadawul session
With Tadawul reopening Sunday (local time), the key isn’t predicting a single opening print—it’s understanding what could realistically move price in the first hour of trade:
- Oil direction and supply narrative: Saudi equities often trade as a “macro‑plus” market—local fundamentals matter, but oil can quickly reset risk appetite, sector leadership, and fiscal sentiment. Reuters’ recent reporting underscores how oil’s annual decline and supply‑demand debate remain central for Gulf markets. Reuters+1
- Banks vs. the rest of the market: Recent sessions showed bank moves can pull the whole index. Watch whether selling pressure in major lenders persists or stabilizes—especially after the holiday-thinned flows normalize.
- Company-specific catalysts likely to dominate open-to-close:
- Saudi Cable: any follow-through disclosures on the court instrument, creditor process, and the post-halt return to trading.
- Chemanol: next procedural steps toward CMA submission and shareholder timelines tied to the capital reduction framework.
- ACWA Power: focus on regulatory approvals and financing follow-through, given the scale and cash-flow framing.
- Liquidity and “range-bound” conditions: Daniel Takieddine’s warning that year-end liquidity could remain limited is practical: in thin markets, spreads widen, intraday reversals get sharper, and “headline risk” carries more punch. Reuters
- Trading calendar reality for global investors: Saudi’s Sunday reopening can make Tadawul the first major equity venue to react to weekend developments before Wall Street returns for Monday’s session.
As the next session approaches, the clean takeaway is that Saudi Stock Exchange trading is being pulled between macro gravity (oil and global rates), index structure (banks and Aramco), and a steady drumbeat of corporate actions that can spark outsized single-stock moves—especially when liquidity is thin.
