Saudi Arabia's stocks declined, erasing an earlier gain to a one-month high, even as some investors expect petrochemical companies and banks to post encouraging second-quarter results. The Saudi Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) dropped 0.01 percent to 6,345.67. “No doubt there was intraday volatility which had been observed before and some investors preferred to take some profits out,” said John Sfakianakis, chief economist at Banque Saudi Fransi in Riyadh. “The market is still looking forward with optimism to the second-quarter results, especially for petrochemicals, as oil prices have been settling above $75 a barrel.” Saudi Basic Industries Corp., the world's largest petrochemical maker, fell 0.5 percent to SR91.75. Banque Saudi Fransi retreated 2 percent, the most in two weeks, to SR45. Yansab National Petrochemicals Co. surged 4.6 percent to SR43, the highest since May 18. Riyad Bank, the third-largest lender in the Kingdom, rose 2.5 percent to SR28.9, the highest in a month.
