RIYADH, Oct 24: The Saudi shares index closed the week on Thursday slightly down as investors adopted a wait-and-see stance on rising tensions in the region over a possible US strike on Iraq, Bakheet Financial Advisers said.

The Tadawul All-Shares Index (TASI) finished the week on 2,638 points, down just 0.2 per cent from last week’s closing of 2,644.35 points.

The TASI is still 8.6 per cent up on the year, but down 9.9 per cent on its all-time high of 2,927.23 points on May 20.

The value of trading dipped 20.5 per cent to $590.7 million from last week’s $742.6 million.

Prices of 14 companies were up, 46 down and three remained unchanged, while five issues did not trade.

The stock market in oil-rich S.Arabia is the most highly capitalised in the Arab world at just under $79bn, but operates only on an interbank basis.—AFP