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DUBAI, June 26 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's stock market fell sharply at the opening on Sunday in response to Britain's decision to leave the European Union, but blue chips held up relatively well and the biggest losses were in smaller speculative stocks favoured by local retail investors.
The main index
.TASI
was down 3.7 percent after five minutes of trade. Among speculative stocks, Saudi Fisheries
6050.SE
tumbled 6.2 percent.
But petrochemical blue chip Saudi Basic Industries
2010.SE
fell only 2.4 percent and National Commercial Bank
1180.SE
was down 2.8 percent, suggesting institutional investors, who focus on such stocks, were not selling as heavily.
Arabian Pipes
2200.SE
, which soared last week after winning a contract from oil giant Saudi Aramco, stayed firm and gained 3.0 percent.
(Reporting by Andrew Torchia) ((andrew.torchia@thomsonreuters.com; +9715 6681 7277; Reuters Messaging: andrew.torchia.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
The main index
But petrochemical blue chip Saudi Basic Industries
Arabian Pipes
(Reporting by Andrew Torchia) ((andrew.torchia@thomsonreuters.com; +9715 6681 7277; Reuters Messaging: andrew.torchia.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))