PHOTO
DUBAI, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Saudi stocks fell sharply in late trade on Tuesday on what fund managers described as heavy profit-taking, particularly in banks.
The main market index
.TASI
, which had jumped 22 percent between mid-October and Sunday, dropped as much as 4.3 percent in the afternoon before partially recovering to stand 2.6 percent lower.
Among major losers, Banque Saudi Fransi
1050.SE
sagged 4.9 percent. Petrochemicals held up relatively well.
One Saudi fund manager said the market had been supported by local and government funds and when these stopped buying on Tuesday, profit-taking pressure quickly pushed stocks down.
Some investors had been hoping that international index compiler MSCI, which announced revisions to its indexes late on Monday, would start the process of upgrading Saudi Arabia to emerging market status, two fund managers said. There was disappointment when this did not happen.
(Reporting by Gerard Aoun and Hadeel Al Sayegh; Writing by Andrew Torchia) ((celine.aswad@thomsonreuters.com)(+9715 6224 7653))
The main market index
Among major losers, Banque Saudi Fransi
One Saudi fund manager said the market had been supported by local and government funds and when these stopped buying on Tuesday, profit-taking pressure quickly pushed stocks down.
Some investors had been hoping that international index compiler MSCI, which announced revisions to its indexes late on Monday, would start the process of upgrading Saudi Arabia to emerging market status, two fund managers said. There was disappointment when this did not happen.
(Reporting by Gerard Aoun and Hadeel Al Sayegh; Writing by Andrew Torchia) ((celine.aswad@thomsonreuters.com)(+9715 6224 7653))