7 things you need to know on Tadawul today

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

1) The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA), the central bank and insurance market regulator, banned on Aug. 19 the Arabian Shield Cooperative Insurance Company (Arabian Shield), Malath Cooperative Insurance Company, and Saudi Indian Company for Cooperative Insurance (Wafa Insurance) from issuing or renewing auto insurance policies, effective Aug. 20, SAMA said in a statement.

2) Saudi Ground Services Co.’s (SGS) board of directors has appointed Omar Najjar as chief executive starting from Sep. 25, 2017, the company said.

3) Kingdom Holding Co. (KHC) has denied media reports that chairman Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal has expressed interest in buying a stake in any Russian bank.

4) A 51 percent drop year-on-year (YoY) in Saudi Arabia’s fiscal deficit to SAR 72.73 billion in the first half of 2017 is “credit positive” for the Kingdom, Moody's Investors Service said in a recent report.

5) Bank of America Merrill Lynch has raised its 2017-19 earning per share estimates by an average of 9 percent for Al Rajhi Bank, National Commercial Bank, Samba Financial Group, and Alinma Bank.

6) ​Saudi Arabia will impose the value-added tax (VAT) on all imported merchandise including items sold online or via mobile applications, the General Authority of Zakat and Tax said.

7) Crude oil prices ended last week with gains as Brent rose to a three-month high. The benchmark grade closed higher by 3.3 percent at $52.72/bbl, while WTI crude rose 3 percent to $48.51/bbl.

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