Posted on 05/28/2005 9:00:24 AM PDT by COUNTrecount
Saudi stocks ease on King Fahd's illness, but long term market outlook remains stable.
RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabian stocks fell nearly one percent on Saturday partly on uncertainty over the health of King Fahd, but the long-term outlook for the market remained one of continued growth, analysts said.
The all-share index of the largest Arab bourse ended the morning session at 12,360 points, down 0.94 percent, at the start of the trading week.
Some traders blamed concerns about the health of the ruler of the world's top oil exporter, who was hospitalised with pneumonia and fever on Friday, but others attributed the drop to a natural market correction.
The index ended the previous week to Thursday up 0.9 percent at 12,477. It had hit a record closing high of 12,729 points, but fell 4.7 percent on Wednesday on news about Fahd's health.
"It's bad news for the market when the king is sick," said Fawad Rizvi, equity economist at the Consulting Centre for Finance and Investment.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
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