The Saudi stock market continued to be under pressure after wiping out all the gains it had made in the previous session since the bottom it hit last September, in light of the dominance of speculation and investors’ anticipation of the financial results of listed companies, together with growing fears about the impact of the drop in oil prices on the profits of energy companies. Mary Salem, a financial analyst at Al Sharq, believes that the Saudi market is currently facing increasing competition from the Gulf and international markets that offer more attractive investment opportunities, at a time when the local market lacks clear incentives, despite the solid fundamentals of companies. She added that speculation dominates market movement at the current stage, while overall sentiment does not remain positive, in light of developments related to oil prices, global trade and interest rates, in addition to the availability of investment alternatives in other markets. Also read: “Nomura”: Saudi shares have not yet reached attractive valuation levels. The general index “TASI” fell 0.3% at the opening, recording 10,420 points, with all leading shares falling, except for “Aramco” share, which achieved slight gains. Correlation with oil prices Oil prices improved slightly in morning trading after Brent crude fell below $60 in the last session for the first time since last May, while West Texas Intermediate crude traded near its lowest levels since 2021. Salem explains that these price levels don’t raise investors’ concerns about the fundamentals of the energy sector as much as they reinforce their impact on their worries about the business. Youssef Youssef, director of financial data development at the “Arqaam” portal, for his part, expected that the slight improvement in oil prices today will be reflected in the performance of energy sector shares, but only temporarily. The energy sector index rose by a limited percentage in early trading. Stimuli are expected in 2026. The two analysts agreed that the market needs strong stimuli, including the financial results of companies and the expected adjustments in foreign ownership policy during the next year. Youssef said during an intervention with Al-Sharq that “the results are sufficient to reform the outlook on the market.” He added that the telecom sector holds great opportunities, given that it is the only one to have posted profits during the current year, thanks to the cumulative growth in profits over the quarters, the large spending and infrastructure, and companies diversifying their activities by entering technology. Regarding the banking sector, which is characterized by heaviness, Youssef explained that “the pressure to which it is exposed in the current period stems from the data of the Saudi Central Bank, which showed a slowdown in the rate of profit growth, In addition to the decrease in demand deposits compared to future deposits, which raised some concerns about the liquidity available for lending.” The banking index was down 0.6% in early trading.