Saudi Arabia Financial News

Oil prices rose in early trade on Tuesday as supply concerns arising from production cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia supported the market. Brent crude futures rose 37 cents, or 0.4%, to $85.71 a barrel at 0010 GMT, while U.S.

Barbie" in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is now confirmed, media reports said.

Investing.com — It’s the Saudi playbook: Cut production when demand is bad and punish your best customers (Asians) who are beholden to you. 

Nile Delta to floodgates that protect Venice, projects to keep the sea from swallowing the land are multiplying. Some scientists are beginning to consider ideas once dismissed as crackpot, such as damming the Strait of Gibraltar to keep sea levels in check. Much of the Mediterranean region has been in the grip of a fearsome heat wave in recent weeks, raising mortality rates and putting pressure on overstretched healthcare systems, with the elderly especially at risk.

Saudi state-run oil giant Aramco made $30 billion in profit in the second quarter, a nearly 40% decline from the same period the previous year

Investing.com — Crude oil prices retreated Monday, handing back some of the recent strong gains in the wake of the decision of top producers Saudi Arabia and Russia to extend their output cuts.

By Natalie Grover

rupee strengthened on Monday, snapping a four-day losing streak, but continued to trade in a narrow range due to demand from importers and rising concerns about elevated crude oil prices. The rupee ended at 82.74 per dollar, gaining 0.12% on the day. The local currency had ended at 82.84 on Friday.

Aramco said Monday that it made $30 billion in profit in the second quarter, a nearly 40% decline from the same period the previous year that it attributed to lower oil prices. Total sales stood at just over 400 billion riyals (about $106 billion), down from 562 billion riyals ($150 billion in the second quarter of 2022. In an earnings report filed with the Saudi stock exchange, Aramco said the decrease «mainly reflected the impact of lower crude oil prices and weakening refining and chemicals margins». The company reported net income of 112.8 billion Saudi riyals ($30 billion) compared to 181.6 billion riyals ($48 billion) in the second quarter of 2022, a decline of 37.8% Aramco nevertheless raised its dividend paid out to investors to 110.18 billion riyals ($29.38 billion), compared to $18.8 billion in the second quarter of 2022. The performance-based dividend is partly based on the company's record earnings last year, it said. «Our strong results reflect our resilience and ability to adapt through market cycles,» Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said in a statement accompanying the report.

Saudi Arabia announced that citizens of eight more countries will now be eligible for a visitor e-visa, state media reported. The e-visa will be available to visitors from Albania, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, South Africa, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, for leisure, business, and religious (Umrah only) travel, bringing the total number of eligible countries to 57, Xinhua news agency quoted the state media report as saying. The visitor e-visa is valid for an entire year, grants multiple entries, and permits a stay of up to 90 days. After launching the e-visa program in 2019, Saudi Arabia welcomed 93.5 million visits in 2022, a 93-per cent increase from 2021, registering a tourism expenditure of 185 billion Saudi Riyals ($49 billion). In 2022, Saudi Arabia decided to provide a visitor e-visa for holders of valid Schengen, British and US visas that have been used to enter these countries before arriving in Saudi Arabia and for permanent residents of the European Union, Gulf Arab countries, Britain and the US.

Gold rate today: Amid US dollar hitting three-week low and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting scheduled to begin from tomorrow, gold future contract for October 2023 expiry on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) opened higher at ₹59,550 per 10 gm and continue to remained sideway around its two week higher levels that it had achieved during Friday deals last week. In international market gold prices shed around 0.20 per cent during early morning session at various Asian stock markets.

Oil prices extended gains on Monday to touch their highest levels since mid-April after top producers Saudi Arabia and Russia pledged to keep supplies down for another month to tighten global markets further and support prices. Brent crude futures rose 25 cents, or 0.3%, to $86.49 a barrel by 0023 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $83.05 a barrel, up 23 cents, or 0.3%.

This week would be crucial for domestic markets as RBI is set to announce its interest rate decision. «Markets are likely to move in a broader range with some volatility. Interest-sensitive sectors are expected to remain in focus,» said Siddhartha Khemka, Head — Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services. Option data suggests a broader trading range in between 19000 to 20000 zones while an immediate trading range in between 19200 to 19600 zones. Here's breaking down the pre-market actions:STATE OF THE MARKETSGIFT Nifty (Earlier SGX Nifty) signals a muted startGIFT Nifty on the NSE IX traded 8 points, or 0.04 per cent, higher at 19,596.50, signaling that Dalal Street was headed for muted start on Monday.

NEW DELHI : The number of countries where the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) “is live" is set to double in the next 12 to 18 months, said Ritesh Shukla, the chief executive officer of NPCI International, the firm running India’s flagship retail payment and settlement system. European countries will be a key focus for greater collaboration and commercial partnerships, including Lyra, a French firm that will be an interoperability partner for UPI in France. In addition, India and the UAE, home to a large number of Indians, are working to operationalize cross-border remittances and personal payments.

National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, who is in Jeddah at present, said that India has regularly engaged both Russia and Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict at the highest levels. During a two-day conference on the Ukraine crisis in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Doval reportedly said, "India supports the global order based on principles enshrined in UN Charter and international law. Respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity by all states must be upheld without exception.

NSA) Ajit Doval has said that India has engaged with both Russia and Ukraine on a regular basis at the top most level, ever since the conflict between the nations broke out, as per reports. Doval is learnt to have made these observations during the summit of NSAs in Jeddah, hosted by Saudi Arabia to discuss the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Ukraine crisis has begun in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah. A source from the Ukrainian delegation told Al Arabiya News that during the meeting on Saturday, the 10-point peace plan proposed by Ukraine was backed by several countries, Xinhua news agency reported.

Ukraine will make a renewed push this weekend at a gathering in Saudi Arabia to win the support of dozens of countries that have remained on the sidelines of the war — the start of a broader campaign in the months ahead to build the diplomatic muscle to isolate and weaken Russia. Ukraine and Saudi Arabia invited diplomats from some 40 governments to talks in the Red Sea port of Jeddah. Notable among them were China, India, Brazil, South Africa and some of the oil-rich Gulf nations that have tried to maintain good relations with both Ukraine and Russia throughout the war, which began in February 2022. Many of the invited governments reject the very concept of choosing sides, framing the war as a contest between global powers that they want no part in, and even with the event fast approaching, it was unclear how many would attend. The meeting is the starting point of what is expected to be a major Ukrainian diplomatic push in the coming months to try to undercut Russia. It began on Wednesday, when President Volodyt the world. He told the ambassadors they must use every tool at their disposal — «official and unofficial, institutional and media, cultural diplomacy and the power of ordinary human sincerity» — to convince both allies and nations that have largely stayed neutral that the only road to a lasting peace is complete Russian defeat.

By Abhirup Roy

Imran Khan's sentencing and quick arrest on Saturday in a corruption case, Pakistan has maintained its notoriety for jailing former prime ministers while shying away from taking any action against military dictators who repeatedly violated the Constitution. Khan, the chief of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party was arrested from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore after an Islamabad-based sessions court sentenced him to three years in prison on the charges of hiding the proceeds from the sale of state gifts from the Toshakhana. The Toshakhana is a department under the Cabinet Division that stores gifts given to rulers and government officials by heads of other governments and foreign dignitaries. Khan bought some gifts including a precious watch given to him by the Saudi crown prince and sold the same for profit. The 70-year-old leader was authorised to buy the gifts from Toshakhana and also carry out the sale but failed to inform the Election Commission of Pakistan about the money he made for which he was accused of concealment which is a crime under the law. In better times, Khan might have escaped with a warning or a fine by the court, but he had already run out of luck when he fell out with the powerful military establishment that led to his ouster from the government in April last year.

Ten-year US yields rose to the highest level since October 2022 as the yields rose to 4.2043% before falling on the US non-farm payroll report released Friday. Global rating agency Fitch, which had kept the US Government's credit on a negative watchlist in May, downgraded the US government's credit rating to AA+ from AA on anticipated fiscal deterioration over the next three years, a high and growing general government debt burden, social security concerns and governance issues. The reaction so far is largely muted in the financial markets.