Saudi Arabian shares slumped on the week's first day, led by insurance and petrochemicals companies, as global stock markets and oil declined after a report showed the US added fewer jobs than expected last month. The Saudi benchmark Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) fell 1.23 percent at 5,927.45 on Saturday as Saudi Basic Industries Corp., the world's largest petrochemical maker, Al-Ahlia Cooperative Insurance, and Allied Cooperative Insurance Group (ACIG) took a beating. Al-Ahlia fell 4.9 percent to SR49, the lowest since April 2009. ACIG tumbled 7 percent to SR33.3, the lowest since February of last year, and SABIC fell 2.9 percent to SR83.25. Among gainers, Saudi Electricity Co. rose 9.81 percent, its biggest intraday rise since June 2006, to SR11.75, after the power producer signed a contract with a group including GDF Suez SA and Aljomaih Holding Co. to establish a company to develop a SR7.9 billion ($2.1 billion) power project in Riyadh. Saudi International Petrochemical Co (Sipchem) jumped 8.2 percent to SR21.9 after it announced it began commercial operations at a carbon-monoxide plant in Jubail, with a production capacity of 345,000 metric tons a year. “The sell-off is coupled with global market psychology,” said John Sfakianakis, chief economist at Banque Saudi Fransi. “Investors are selling off in anticipation of a further market decline which took a beating in the US and Europe yesterday as sovereign concerns mounted and a weak US employment market didn't help sentiment.” The S&P 500 Index declined 3.4 percent to 1,064.88, the lowest in four months, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 324.06 points, or 3.2 percent, to 9,931.22. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index sank 1.8 percent to 244.53, trimming the week's gain to 0.2 percent.
