#Saudi Shares Fall Second Day, With Banks Pressuring: Inside EM - Bloomberg

Saudi Shares Fall Second Day, With Banks Pressuring: Inside EM - Bloomberg:

Saudi Arabia’s equity index ended lower for a second day, after spending much of the trading session in the green, as investors assessed changes in the top position within the country’s energy ministry.

Over the weekend, the Saudi king named his son as energy minister replacing Khalid al-Falih, who had been the face of OPEC diplomacy over the past three years. The new minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, is half-brother to the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and has served in the energy ministry for decades, most recently as state minister for energy affairs. He is seen as a capable and experienced technocrat.

While the reshuffle is seen as having little direct impact on the Saudi market, investors have been shying away from some expensive stocks in Riyadh, said Marwan Haddad, senior portfolio manager at Emirates NBD Asset Management, in an interview to Bloomberg Television.