Business | Markets
Bank shares lead fall on Saudi exchange
Saudi Arabian stocks fell, led by Islamic and commercial lenders, Al Rajhi Bank and Riyad Bank, extending last week's decline.
- Bloomberg
- Published: 00:16 March 23, 2008
Riyadh: Saudi Arabian stocks fell, led by Islamic and commercial lenders, Al Rajhi Bank and Riyad Bank, extending last week's decline.
The Tadawul All Share Index lost 95.04, or one per cent to 9,393.81. The index fell 4.1 per cent in the last trading week.
Al Rajhi Bank, the Islamic biggest bank in Saudi Arabia by market value, declined 3.1 per cent to 85.25 riyals, while Riyad Bank, the fourth-biggest Saudi commercial lender, fell 1.8 per cent to 82 riyals.
Zain Saudi Arabia, a unit of the Kuwaiti phone company formerly known as Mobile Telecommunications Co, started trading its shares on the Saudi market on Saturday. The stock more than doubled to 21.75 riyals at the start of the trading from its initial public offering price of 10 riyals.
Meanwhile, Dubai Financial Market said foreign investors sold more shares than they bought last week, leading to a 3.1 per cent drop in the general index over the week.
Foreign investors bought Dh1.73 billion of DFM stocks, compared with sales of Dh1.95 billion, said the bourse. Institutional investors sold Dh1.7 billion of stock and bought Dh1.3 billion, it said.
UAE citizens bought Dh2.6 billion of shares, compared with sales of Dh2.4 billion, the bourse said.
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