9 things to consider as Tadawul starts trading

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

1) Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) is considering increasing its holding in Clariant and pursuing joint ventures as it looks to strengthen ties with the Swiss chemicals group, Reuters reported.

2) Arabian Cement Co. said it expects to start operations at its cement mills at Rabigh in the first quarter of 2019, after the completion of construction work.

3) Filling and Packing Materials Manufacturing Company (FIPCO)'s subsidiary FPC Industries Co. has successfully installed main production lines and has started trial production, it said in a statement.

4) Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services affirmed its “A-" rating on The Company for Cooperative Insurance (Tawuniya) with a stable outlook.

5) Moody's Investors Service has assigned counterparty risk ratings to 11 banks including: Al Rajhi Bank; Alawwal Bank; Arab National Bank; Bank Aljazira; Bank Albilad; Banque Saudi Fransi; National Commercial Bank; Riyad Bank; Samba Financial Group; Saudi British Bank and The Saudi Investment Bank.

6) Saudi Arabia’s ministry of finance completed a sukuk issuance of additional investors applications, after re-opening an issue originally made in April, under the Saudi Arabian government SAR-denominated sukuk program, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

7) Saudi Aramco has signed a shareholder deal with National Oilwell Varco (NOV) to form a joint venture partnership to establish an integrated world-class on-shore rig and equipment manufacturing and aftermarket facility in Ras Al-Khair.

8) US President Donald Trump said on his Twitter account that he had received assurances from King Salman that Saudi Arabia will increase oil production, "maybe up to 2,000,000 barrels" in response to turmoil in Iran and Venezuela.

9) Saudi Arabia and Russia will account for the maximum portion of the increase in output agreed by OPEC and its non-member allies, as the group attempts to cool down rising prices and head off potential future shortages, Institute of International Finance (IIF) said in a recent report.

Write to Nadeshda Zareen at nadeshda.zareen@argaamplus.com