Stock News: Saudi Arabia Shares Tumble, Dubai Extends Drop

Saudi Arabia’s main stock index tumbled in early trade on Sunday as worries about economic growth sparked sharp declines on global and regional markets.

Saudi’s benchmark fell 3.6 per cent in a broad-based sell-off. Petrochemicals giant Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) was the main drag, dropping 4.3 per cent. Al Rajhi Bank fell 3.7 per cent.

Shares in Almarai, the Gulf’s largest dairy company, were down 2.8 per cent, even though the company had reported a 13.4 per cent increase in third-quarter net profit on Sunday, slightly ahead of analyst estimates.

Elsewhere in the region, Dubai plunged 6.7 per cent, Abu Dhabi slid 2.1 per cent and Qatar dropped 2.7 per cent.

Dubai’s main stock index fell sharply in the opening minutes on Sunday in response to a weak global trend as most shares declined.

The benchmark dropped 3.1 percent to 4,787 points as heavyweight Emaar Properties tumbled 4.8 percent. The index dropped below chart support on the September low of 4,808 points; any clean break, in the form of a daily close, would trigger a minor double top formed by the September peaks and pointing down to about 4,455 points.

Global markets took a hit on Friday as investors fled to the safety of government bonds after a raft of weak indicators from Europe and China collided with concerns about the U.S. Federal Reserve’s plans to reduce monetary stimulus.