Saudi Arabian shares recovered at close Saturday with the benchmark index gaining 0.22 percent at 6,523.01 points. Early in the day it was in the negative territory amid low volumes as concern mounted that Europe's sovereign-debt crisis will spread to Italy and Spain. Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), the world's biggest petrochemicals maker, and Etihad Etisalat Co., Saudi Arabia's second-largest phone operator known as Mobily, both dropped. "Investors are locking in gains from last week's sessions as volumes drop ahead of Ramadan," said Asim Bukhtiar, an equity analyst at Riyad Capital. "Today's session is mostly an adjustment of positions with limited net new buyers." Trading volumes were low today, two weeks before Ramadan. Almost 85 million stocks have traded Saturday valued at SR2.4 billion, compared with the six-month daily average of 210 million shares. The European Banking Authority published its assessment of the region's lenders yesterday. Eight banks in Greece, Austria and Spain failed the tests with a combined capital shortfall of 2.5 billion euros ($3.5 billion), according to the EBA. Standard & Poor's said on July 14, while the Saudi stock market was closed, it will lower the US's AAA rating if it concludes that Congress and President Barack Obama's administration haven't found a credible solution to the government's rising debt burden and aren't likely to do so in the foreseeable future.
