Saudi stocks retreat on geopolitical worries

DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s stock market ended lower on Sunday, as worries that the US might take military action against Iran highlighted the risks that the region would be the most exposed to any Iranian retaliation.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday that any US attack on Iran would turn into a regional conflict, according to state media, as tensions between Washington and Tehran escalated.

Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index dropped 1.9 percent, its biggest intraday fall since April, dragged down by a 9.5 percent slide in Saudi Arabian Mining Company.

Oil company Saudi Aramco retreated 2.4 percent.