Saudi Arabian equities closed higher on Tuesday as the annual growth of the kingdom's economy and continued business optimism lifted the Tadawul All Share Index 1.30% in the green.
According to the final data from the General Authority for Statistics, Saudi Arabia's real gross domestic product for the first quarter increased year over year by 3%, which was attributed to a rise in all major economic activities.
"All economic activities recorded positive year-on-year growth rates. Finance, insurance and business services activities recorded the highest growth rates in Q1 of 2026, increasing by 5.4% Y-o-Y and 1.1% Q-o-Q. These were followed by manufacturing activities excluding petroleum refining, which grew by 4.0% Y-o-Y and 1.4% Q-o-Q. Crude petroleum and natural gas activities also recorded growth of 3.6% Y-o-Y, however, they declined by 7.0% Q-o-Q," the report said.
The kingdom's seasonally adjusted real gross domestic product during the quarter, however, declined 1.2% quarter over quarter. The quarterly economic contraction was not as bad as initially feared, based on the initial data that showed a 1.5% decrease.
Meanwhile, the kingdom's business confidence index in May increased to 55.6, up from 54.5 in April. The separate confidence indices for the industry, construction, and services also rose during the reporting period.
On the corporate front, Arabian Contracting Services (SASE:4071), d/b/a Al Arabia, shares ticked up 3.38% as it entered a nonexclusive three-year deal with Wave Media Advertising to market and sell advertisements.