Tadawul Equities End June Muted; Saudi's Q1 Unemployment Rate Declines QoQ
The Tadawul All Share Index closed the last trading day of June subdued at 0.07% in the green on Tuesday as investors tuned in to the latest economic releases by Saudi Arabia.According to the General Authority for Statistics, the country's unemployment rate was 3.1% in the first quarter, lower than the 3.5% in the prior three-month period and up by 0.3 percentage points from the year-ago figure."The overall labor force participation rate (for Saudis and non-Saudis) reached 67.2%, decreasing by 0.2 percentage points compared to the previous quarter and by 1.0 percentage points year-on-year compared to the corresponding quarter of 2025. The unemployment rate among Saudis stood at 6.4% in Q1 of 2026, decreasing by 0.8 percentage points compared to the previous quarter while increasing by 0.1 percentage points year-on-year compared to Q1 of 2025. Meanwhile, the employment-to-population ratio among Saudis reached 45.8%, recording a slight decrease of 0.1 percentage point compared to the previous quarter and a decline of 2.2 percentage points compared to the same quarter of 2025," the report said.The kingdom's net inflow of foreign direct investment for the first quarter of 2026 amounted to 23.1 billion Saudi riyals, a 51.9% drop from the last quarter of 2025. Net outflows decreased to 3.5 billion riyals in the first quarter of 2026, compared with 5.2 billion riyals in the previous quarter.Additionally, the country's consumer confidence index for the first quarter demonstrated stability as the index logged 116 points in January, 113 points in February, and 114 points in March, which was above the neutral level of 100.On the corporate front, Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (SASE:2222), d/b/a Saudi Aramco, slashed its monthly prices for liquefied petroleum gas for July. The contract prices were set at $580 per metric tonne for propane and $600 per metric tonne for butane. Aramco shares were flat at closing.Meanwhile, Future Vision for Health Training Co. (SASE:9632) shares ticked up 5.56% as it entered inot a one-year deal for the organization, execution, and marketing of the fourth International Conference on Mass Gatherings and Emergency Medicine 2026.
