Saudi Stocks Dive 5.6%, Wiping Out 2018 Gains
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Saudi stocks dived 5.6 percent just an hour after trading opened on Sunday as the oil-rich kingdom comes under increasing international pressure over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The Tadawul All-Shares Index (TASI) quickly lost more than 400 points on the first trading day of the week, wiping out all the gains it had made since the start of the year, AFP reported.
The index had already dropped 3.0 percent Thursday, following a rout on world stock markets fueled by worries about higher interest rates and US President Donald Trump's attacks on the Federal Reserve.
Turkish newspaper Sabah reported on Saturday that Turkey’s investigation into Khashoggi’s fate after he entered the Saudi consulate revealed recordings made on his Apple Watch purportedly indicating he was tortured and killed. Khashoggi has been a prominent critic of Riyadh and a US resident who has written columns for the Washington Post.
Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 to get documents for his forthcoming marriage. Saudi officials say he left shortly afterwards but Turkish officials and his fiancee, who was waiting outside, said he never came out.
Turkish sources have said the initial assessment of the police was that Khashoggi had been deliberately killed inside the consulate. Riyadh has dismissed the claims.