Saudi Arab

Saudi fears of unrest,shares at 20-month low

saudi_shares_lowMassive anti-government protests in the Arab world have influenced shares in Saudi Arabia, bringing down the largest market in the Arab world by 6.8 percent to a 20-month low.

The Saudi bourse dropped for the 12th consecutive session on Tuesday on fears of unrest and on Sunday lost five percent.The Tadawul All-Shares Index (TASI) shed about 403 points to close at 5,538.72 points, the lowest  level since mid-July 2009, with all the 145 listed companies ending the day in the red.

The index dipped more than eight percent before recovering just ahead of the close.

The unrest in several Arab countries and the failure to reopen the Egyptian Stock Market, which has been closed for a month, are behind the fall, Saudi economist Ali al-Dakkak said on Tuesday.

“It is a strong reaction to the events in the Arab world,” he told AFP.

“Investors were awaiting the re-opening of the Egyptian bourse and reacted negatively when it did not.”

The Cairo bourse’s opening has been delayed until next Sunday.

Saudi Arabia has investments worth around $110 billion in Egypt, $100 billion of which are held by private investors inside and outside the Egyptian bourse, Dakkak said.

The drop is the largest single-day loss since November 2008 when the Saudi market was reeling under the impact of the global financial crisis.

Since the start of the year, TASI shed more than 16.3 percent and most of the losses were incurred after the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions

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