Saudi Shares Drop a Fifth Day, Decline to Lowest in Four Weeks - BusinessWeek

Petrochemical companies and banks led Saudi shares to retreat for a fifth day, sending the Tadawul All Share Index to its lowest level in almost a month.

Saudi Basic Industries Corp., the world’s largest petrochemical maker, Samba Financial Group, the kingdom’s second-biggest bank by market value, and Saudi British Bank paced the decline, as all 15 industry groups dropped. The index fell 1 percent to 6,033.91, the lowest level since June 8.

“It should be of little surprise that Saudi shares are down today, given that global equities were in a downward mode over the past two days and oil is down to $72,” said John Sfakianakis, chief economist at Banque Saudi Fransi in Riyadh. It is Tadawul’s longest losing streak since May 25.