But weakness in key banking and petrochemical shares quickly changed investor sentiment. The benchmark index ended 0.5 lower with Al Rajhi Bank down almost 1 percent and Saudi Basic Industries off by a similar margin. Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said on Saturday oil exporters have not fully recovered from the oil price shock of 2014.
However, news of the royal decree on expat fees still lifted shares of cement and construction companies. Eastern Province Cement ended almost 1 percent higher, Arab Cement rose 1.9 percent and construction firm AlKhodari added 0.6 percent. The Saudi government is allocating 11.5 billion riyals ($3.1 billion) under a scheme that reimburses some companies who struggled to pay steadily increasing fees for expatriate work permits in 2017 and 2018 and waives the hikes for some unable to pay.
Qatar's index, one of the world's best performing markets last year, fell 0.6 percent with market heavyweight Industries Qatar dropping 0.7 percent and Vodafone Qatar down 1.8 percent. Abu Dhabi shares were hit by selling in Aldar Properties which ended 1.9 percent lower and First Abu Dhabi Bank which dropped 0.9 percent.
Dubai was dragged down by DAMAC Properties , which dropped 3.2 percent. The firm has been hit hard by the property downturn in Dubai. EFG Hermes expects DAMAC to report a net profit of 214 million dirhams ($58.28 million) in the fourth quarter, more than half what it reported in the same quarter in 2017.