Oil Price Rise Boosts Saudi Stock Exchange

By Yomna Yasser On Mar 31, 2012

Saudi shares opened higher on Saturday led by gains in petrochemical stocks after oil prices posted on Friday the biggest quarterly gain since the beginning of 2011.

The growing threat of a disruption to Iranian exports added to supply concerns, pushing prices up.

The all-share gained 0.7 percent to 7,830 points and the petrochemical index added 0.9 percent to 7,260 points.

Petrochemical giant Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) gained 0.9 percent in early trade.

The banking index rose 0.4 percent to 18,019 points, reported by Reuters.