Overview:
Business confidence in Saudi Arabia remained in optimistic territory during October, with the index registering 55.5 points, down 1.1 points from September's 56.6. The manufacturing sector recorded 55.4 points, services 54.2 points. Concurrently, real estate investment accelerated: Al-Worod Real Estate initiated construction on the Malfa Living project in Riyadh with 125 million riyal investment, comprising 87 rental units. Property auctions also expanded, with 71 auctions scheduled for November to sell 1,103 properties nationwide.
Details:
Saudi investor holdings in the stock market increased by 108.4 billion riyal during the week ending November 5, reaching 2.332 trillion dollars in market value. Domestic investors held 86.31% of free-floating shares and 94.78% of issued shares. Foreign investor holdings rose by 10.12 billion riyal to 413.05 billion riyal, with institutional foreign ownership climbing 9.07 billion riyal to 340.96 billion riyal.
In infrastructure financing, the National Infrastructure Fund signed two agreements with Humain valued at 2.5 billion riyal for artificial intelligence data center capabilities and energy infrastructure development. The first tranche of 1.1 billion riyal supports graphics processing unit procurement at approximately 25 megawatts capacity; the second allocation of 1.4 billion riyal funds power transmission and distribution development.
Personal loan values climbed 6.42% year-on-year to 542.68 billion riyal by end of third quarter 2026. Credit card borrowing rose 10.45% annually. The Saudi Export-Import Bank increased total credit facilities to 23.22 billion riyal by end September 2026, representing 27.12% growth year-over-year, with small and medium enterprises accounting for 36.7% of the bank's client base.
Outlook:
Investors are monitoring whether business confidence sustains above the neutral 50-point threshold as global trade tensions and oil price volatility persist. Real estate and infrastructure project pipelines signal sustained capital deployment despite macroeconomic headwinds affecting international markets.