RIYADH, Aug 1: The Saudi stock market bounced back on confirmation of King Fahd’s death on Monday after falling sharply earlier in the day amid rumours that he had died. The bourse lost about 5.6 per cent to 12,454 points as the rumours spread before trading was halted at 10:03 am (0703 GMT).

But when trading resumed 42 minutes later, the Tadawul All-Shares Index (TASI) recovered 4.5 per cent to more than 13,000, as the market responded to the official confirmation.

The exchange’s head of market information, Musaed Al-Nimr, said there would be no further disruption to trading following the king’s death. Saudi Arabia’s stock market, the Arab world’s most capitalized, has soared this year on the back of the windfall revenues earned by the world’s biggest oil producer and exporter.—AFP