Tadawul’s benchmark index TASI closed 1H in the red, shedding 7.2% in the first six months of the year, according to Tadawul’s semi-annual report for 1H 2025 (pdf). The drop bucked a positive trend seen in some of the most relevant regional peers like Abu Dhabi’s ADX and Dubai’s DFM.

The culprits: The sharp fall was driven by regional geopolitical tensions, oil price fluctuations, and declining investor appetite for small- and medium-sized enterprise stocks, Ashraf Jarrar, international broker at United Securities, told EnterpriseAM.

Utilities, media, and financials led the selloff: Out of 22 sector indices on the Saudi exchange, 17 ended 1H in the red. Utilities logged the biggest losses during the period, shedding 32%, followed by media and entertainment (-29.6%), and financial services (-17.7%).

Only five sectors managed to post YTD gains during the first half of the year, led by telecoms with a 7.3% increase. Personal and household products came second with 1.4% growth, followed by real estate management and development (0.43%), consumer discretionary retail (0.3%), and banks, which eked out a marginal gain of 0.1%.

Metrics took a hit on a yearly basis: TASI’s total market cap fell 9.25% y-o-y to SAR 9.1 tn at the end of June. Turnover also took a hit, falling 32.8% y-o-y to SAR 688.1 bn.

The outlook: TASI is still expected to gradually rebound in the second half of the year, supported by improving oil prices, steady IPO momentum, and a potential Fed pivot, Muhammad Al Laithy, head of financial reporting at Argaam Investments, told us.

The regional picture: Abu Dhabi’s ADX gained 5.7% in the first six months, while Dubai’s DFM added 10.6%, and Qatar’s QSE rose 1.7%, according to a Kamco Invest report (pdf). Meanwhile, the Bahraini stock exchange closed 1H down 2.1% YTD, while the Omani bourse dropped 1.7%.

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