RIYADH: Saudi shares dived 6.8 percent to a 20-month low on Tuesday amid panic sell-off by investors concerned over unrest that has hit several Arab countries, traders and analysts said.
The Tadawul All-Shares Index (TASI) shed about 403 points to close at 5,538.72 points, the lowest level since mid-July 2009, with all the 145 listed companies ending the day in the red. At one stage the index had dipped more than eight percent before recovering just ahead of the close.
Saudi economist Ali al-Dakkak attributed the fall to the unrest gripping several Arab countries and the failure to re-open the Egyptian Stock Market which has been closed for a month.
"It is a strong reaction to the events in the Arab world ... Investors were awaiting the re-opening of the Egyptian bourse and reacted negatively when it did not," Dakkak told AFP.
The Cairo bourse's opening has been delayed until next Sunday.
Saudi Arabia has investments worth around $110 billion in Egypt, $100 billion of which are held by private investors inside and outside the Egyptian bourse, Dakkak said.
Tuesday's drop is the largest single-day loss since November 2008 when the Saudi market, the largest in the Arab world, was reeling under the impact of the global financial crisis.
The Saudi bourse has dropped for the 12th consecutive session on fears of unrest and on Sunday lost five percent.
Since the start of the year, TASI shed more than 16.3 percent and most of the losses were incurred after the Tunisian and Egyptian popular uprisings.
"The threat by (Libyan leader Moamer) Kadhafi to launch air strikes against protesters has increased fears that the Libyan crisis could escalate and affect the oil market," Dakkak said.
Kuwait Stock Exchange, the second largest Arab bourse, which re-opened Tuesday after a two-day national holiday, dropped 2.5 percent to finish at 6,321.40 points. The main banking sector led the slide with a 3.4 percent drop.
Abu Dhabi's Securities Exchange was down 0.56 percent and Bahrain Stock Exchange dropped 0.45 percent.
The remaining three markets of Oman, Dubai and Qatar however rose on Tuesday.
Muscat Securities Market gained 4.2 percent after diving 4.9 percent, while Dubai inched up one percent and Qatar Exchange was up 0.1 percent.
Market capitalisation of the seven bourses has shed around $90 billion from 2010-end value of $770 billion, mainly after the outbreak of Arab unrest.
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