Saudi shares close lower despite oil price rise

Saudi shares closed lower on Saturday on petrochemical losses despite rising oil prices. Brent crude futures closed at $123.43 a barrel on Thursday before holidays began in major markets. The all-share closed 0.4 percent lower at 7862.5 points and the petrochemical index closed 1.2 percent down at 7353.03 points. Petrochemical giant Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) slipped 0.9 percent. Meanwhile, the banking index added 0.5 percent to 17,890.4 points. Bank Albilad ended 9.9 percent higher and Alinma Bank added 3.2 percent. Almarai shares closed down 4.5 percent after it said its first quarter net profit rose by 2.9 percent compared with the same period last year.