Mideast Stocks - Oil plunge hits Saudi, MSCI decisions drag down Qatar | ZAWYA MENA Edition:
Saudi Arabia's stock market fell in early trade on Wednesday as a fresh plunge of oil prices triggered broad selling of blue chips, while Qatar dropped sharply after MSCI snubbed two of its major stocks in a semi-annual index review.
Saudi Arabia's main index was down 0.8 percent after an hour, following oil's roughly 7 percent decline overnight. All 14 petrochemical stocks declined with the biggest, Saudi Basic Industries, losing 0.7 percent.
Eleven of 12 banking stocks also dropped as the largest, National Commercial Bank, declined 1.7 percent. If the oil price slide continues, the government's plans to boost spending next year could be affected as revenues are hurt, squeezing liquidity at banks; Saudi interbank money rates SAIBOR= have been edging up in recent weeks.
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