RIYADH, 15 Oct. - (ANA) - Riyadh’s stock exchange fell to a 43-month low on Wednesday as Houthi attacks from Yemen disrupt air travel and supply chains in Saudi Arabia.

 

The All-Share Index, which tracks the main market, closed at 10,139 points, its lowest since March 16, 2023, when it ended at 9,977.

 

The latest slump followed a series of missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia that have forced the kingdom to close the main airport in Riyadh, the capital. Numerous airlines have cancelled flights across the country, forcing organisers to call off events and travellers to postpone business trips.

 

“We’re seeing selling across the board in Saudi,” said Shahrukh Saleem, a portfolio analyst at Dubai-based asset manager Mashreq Capital, “and it’s largely geopolitical. Even the names foreign investors favoured until recently are now under pressure.”

 

Shares in state-owned oil giant Aramco, by far the largest company listed on the exchange, fell 2 percent following an attack on its headquarters in Dhahran on Tuesday evening.

 

However, its share price remains up more than 7 percent year on year. The company has stayed profitable through the US war with Iran, according to public disclosures, an outcome it attributes to its ability to export oil via the Red Sea.

 

Saudi Arabia’s oil revenues have increased since the Iran conflict began earlier this year, while domestic inflation has remained unaffected by shipping disruptions.

 

“Earlier in the conflict, Saudi was relatively insulated,” Saleem said. “Its export routes stayed open, and that worked in its favour. Now the kingdom itself is under attack, and the market is repricing that risk higher.”

 

Flight disruptions extended into Wednesday. Riyadh airport remained closed while almost a third of flights at Dammam and Jeddah were cancelled, according to flight data on Flightradar24.

 

Houthi threats to shipping through the Bab al-Mandab waterway are deterring vessels, forcing Saudi oil exports and vital imports to take longer, more expensive routes and pushing up logistics costs.  - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/15 October 2026 - - -