RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index rebounded on Monday, gaining 37.20 points, or 0.31 percent, to close at 12,096.73.

The benchmark index saw a total trading turnover of SR4.74 billion ($1.26 billion), with 71 stocks advancing, while 154 declined.

Meanwhile, Nomu dropped 28.63 points to close at 31,144.44. The MSCI Tadawul Index also posted a modest gain, rising 4.13 points, or 0.27 percent, to finish at 1,517.67.

Saudi Industrial Development Co. led the main market, with its share price surging 4.27 percent to SR28.10. Other notable gainers included Riyadh Cables Group Co. and Dr. Soliman Abdel Kader Fakeeh Hospital Co., whose shares increased by 4.14 percent and 4.12 percent, closing at SR151 and SR70.80, respectively.

On the downside, Saudi Chemical Co. saw its share price dip by 3.59 percent to SR9.93.

Balsm Alofoq Medical Co., which debuted on the Nomu market on Monday, was the top performer on the parallel market, with its share price soaring 30 percent to SR78.

Additionally, Neft Alsharq Co. for Chemical Industries saw a notable increase, with its share price rising 13.27 percent to SR5.55.

On the announcements front, Saudi-based online beauty brand Nice One has set its final offer price at SR35 for its upcoming initial public offering, positioning the company for a market capitalization of over SR4 billion upon listing.

The company revealed that institutional book-building orders exceeded SR169 billion, reflecting a subscription coverage of 139.4 times.

The retail subscription period for the IPO is scheduled from Dec. 24 to 25. If all formalities are completed by the Capital Market Authority and Saudi Exchange, the offered shares will be listed on the main market.

Meanwhile, Obeikan Glass Co. announced the commencement of trial operations at its new aluminum casting facility, the Saudi Aluminum Casting Foundry, on Dec. 16. The commercial operations of the plant, located in Al-Madina Al-Munawwara Industrial City, are expected to begin in Q1 2025, with a focus on manufacturing and casting aluminum products.

KARACHI: Pakistan’s central bank cut its key policy rate by 200 basis points to 13% on Monday, it said in a statement, for a fifth straight reduction since June as the country keeps up efforts to revive a sluggish economy with inflation easing.

Pakistan’s latest move makes this year’s cuts the most aggressive among emerging market central banks in the current easing cycle, barring outliers such as Argentina.

The South Asian country is navigating a challenging economic recovery path and has been buttressed by a $7 billion facility from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in September.

All 12 analysts surveyed by Reuters expected a 200 bps cut, after inflation fell sharply, slowing to 4.9% in November, largely due to a high base a year earlier, coming in below the government’s forecast and significantly lower than a multi-decade high of around 40 percent in May last year.

Monday’s move follows cuts of 150 bps in June, 100 in July, 200 in September, and a record cut of 250 bps in November, that have taken the rate down from an all-time high of 22%, set in June 2023 and left unchanged for a year.

It takes the total cuts to 900 bps since June.