Saudi market welcomes new system with 4% decline

These are for shares below SR25, shares between SR10-SR25 and shares of SR50 or above.

The system replaces the old one which used to calculate quarter riyal up or down for all listed shares. The new system calculates the changes according to the price of the share.

The session witnessed some confusion as some shares followed the old system, attributed by the market authorities as a correctional operation following the close of trading on Wednesday.

Tadawul says that the new system has been implemented successfully for the three standards in cooperation with brokerage firms.

Some 662 deals have been canceled from Wednesday for not being in line with the new system, representing 5.8% of the total deals, which reached around 90,000, representing 92.8m shares valued at SR3bn.

Mass decline led by Sabic

All listed sectors put pressure on the index, including Sabic, which fell sharply by 5% to SR108.75.

The day saw 117 listed companies decline, while only five rose.

All bank shares declined sharply, including Riyadh Bank by 5.6%, Arab National Bank by 5.1%, Alinma down 4.6%, Samba 0.35% and Al Rajhi 2.3%.

Petrochemical shares also saw a massive decline, including Al Mutaqademeh by 9.7% and Maaden 10%.

The telecom sector fell sharply, with Zain down 4.3%, STC 3.1% and Mobily 2.3%.

Analysts believe that speculators have used the new pricing system to push the market down to cash in on lower prices.