Saudi Arabia's shares extended their sharp decline Monday amid a negative global backdrop. The stock benchmark Tadawul All Share Index dipped 0.26 to close at 7,697.7 points, its fourth straight declines that trimmed 2012 gains to 19.6 percent. King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, told the Capital Markets Authority to launch an investigation into market violations and file cases against guilty parties, Al Sharq Arabic daily reported. "When the CMA charges someone with unethical trading they freeze their buying, but not the selling," said a Riyadh-based trader who asked not to be identified. "This started a domino wave of selling. It doesn't help that global markets are down on the day." Petrochemical and banking stocks are mostly lower with bellwether Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (Sabic) slipping 0.9 percent and Saudi Kayan Petrochemical down 0.5 percent. Alinma Bank fell 2.2 percent. The stock has been the recent target of speculative trade. The lender said Sunday its first-quarter net income surged to SR150 million ($40 million) from SR70 million a year earlier, mainly due to significant growth in its core banking activities. Samba Financial Group slipped 1.4 percent and Saudi Investment Bank shed 1.5 percent. Qassim Cement eased 0.6 percent. It said its net profit in the first quarter rose 7.7 percent on the same period last year to SR158.4 million due to higher sales. Losses are limited with fresh buying coming in at lower prices.
