7 things to consider as Tadawul starts trading

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

1)  New York-based private equity giant Blackstone is nearing a first close of $5 billion for its infrastructure fund, backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, news agencies reported this week.

2) JP Morgan has started a consultation on including Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states in its widely tracked emerging market government bond indexes, Reuters reported.

3) Franklin Templeton Investments, an active asset manager, is seeking approval for a Saudi Arabia ETF, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

4) Index complier MSCI’s decision to upgrade the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) to its Emerging Market Index represents an endorsement of Saudi’s compliance with the global investment community’s requirements, Albilad Capital said in a report.

5) Saudi Automotive Services Co. (SASCO) has appointed Ibrahim Mohamed Alhudaithi as chairman, the company said in a statement.

6) Saudi Arabia’s inflation rate accelerated by 2.3 percent in May, following energy price hikes and implementation of the value-added tax (VAT), the latest figures from the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) showed.

7) Saudi Aramco is said to be planning to boost production next month to about 10.8 million barrels per day (bpd), surpassing the previous high of 10.72 million bpd in November 2016.

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