By Mohamed Abu Meleeh
Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) fell by 4.45% or 292 points on Thursday to close at a four-year low of 6,225 points.
The market was weighed by continued political spat between Saudi Arabia and Iran, as Iranian government announced on Thursday a ban on imports from the kingdom.
Equities were also weighed by news about intensified airstrikes by Arab coalition against Houthi rebels in Yemen.
At the economic level, global markets were hurt by the drop in China’s yuan to a five-year low.
The hotel sector was the biggest drag (-8.53%), followed by transportation (-7.52%) and retail (-7%). Petrochemical industries fell by 3.26%, cement (-2.34%) and telecoms (-3.23%).
The market’s traded value rose by 3.4% to SAR 5.44 billion from SAR 5.27 billion, while traded volume increased by 9.3% to 253.97 million shares from 232 million shares.
Four stocks only headed north, topped by Advanced (+1.98%), then Southern Province Cement (+0.99%), Tihama (+0.68%) and Tabuk Cement (+0.14%).
On the negative front, 162 stocks moved lower led by Al-Babtain (-9.99%) and SHAMS (-9.87%).
