RIYADH, Jan 4, 2026, 09:37 ET — Market closed
Shares of Saudi Tadawul Group Holding Co, the operator of the Saudi Stock Exchange, fell 2.91% to 136.70 riyals in Sunday’s trade. The board appointed Mazen Abdulrazzaq Al Romaihas as chairman and Yazeed Abdulrahman Al Humaid as vice chairman for a four-year term starting Jan. 2, a bourse filing showed. The group has reported softer profitability, with nine-month 2025 net profit down 40.79% to 299.40 million riyals.
The move matters because Tadawul Group’s earnings are tightly linked to market activity: more trading and more listings typically translate into higher fees. When liquidity dries up, exchange operators tend to feel it quickly.
It also lands at the start of 2026 with investors focused on oil-linked risk appetite in the Gulf. A risk-off tape can slow turnover and cool IPO plans, both key inputs for exchange revenue.
Saudi Arabia’s benchmark Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) closed down about 1.8%, hit by declines in heavyweight banks and Saudi Aramco as oil prices stayed under pressure. Brent crude fell nearly 20% in 2025, its third straight annual loss, Reuters reported.
The TASI ended at 10,364.03 points, down 1.75% on the day, according to Investing.com data.
Oil remains the swing factor for Gulf sentiment, and OPEC+ — OPEC and allies such as Russia — kept output policy unchanged on Sunday. “Right now, oil markets are being driven less by supply–demand fundamentals and more by political uncertainty,” said Jorge Leon, head of geopolitical analysis at Rystad Energy. Reuters
Investors also weighed fresh fiscal signals from Riyadh after Saudi Arabia approved a 2026 borrowing plan with financing needs of about 217 billion riyals ($57.86 billion), part of funding the kingdom’s investment push under Vision 2030.
For Tadawul Group, Sunday’s session left the stock at the bottom of its recent range: it traded between 136.00 and 140.90 riyals, and is now sitting on the low end of its 52-week span of 136.00 to 221.00. Analysts tracked by Investing.com peg the average 12-month price target at about 196.1 riyals.
But downside risk is clear if oil weakness persists and the broader Saudi market stays under pressure. Lower risk appetite can mean thinner volumes and fewer equity fundraises, which would squeeze trading and listing-related income.
