JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index was nearly flat as losses in the petrochemicals sector were offset by other stocks.

Petrochemicals giant Saudi Basic Industries, whose profits are sensitive to oil prices, edged down 0.6 percent after Brent crude fell below $62 per barrel.

But Saudi British Bank 1060.SE jumped 2.8 percent after saying it had completed an SR1.5 billion ($400 million) private placement of 10-year subordinated Tier 2 sukuk.

Miner Maaden rebounded after a bout of profit-taking and jumped 2.5 percent to SR47.80, nearing a record intra-day high of 48.30 riyals which it hit in the previous session.

Mouwasat Medical Services jumped 4.9 percent after announcing the signing of a contract for construction of a new hospital building.

Qatar’s bourse fell sharply on Thursday, driven by news of criminal investigations against FIFA soccer officials as well as by profit-taking after an upgrade of some stocks by index compiler MSCI.

Most other Gulf markets were also soft.

The Doha index slid 2.7 percent, its biggest daily drop in five months, to 11,902 points, a five-week low, taking its losses to 4.1 percent since the announcement on Wednesday of high-profile arrests and corruption probes at world soccer’s governing body.

“Clearly news about the FIFA officials is impacting sentiment and has pushed the market lower, but on generally weak volumes,” said Akber Khan, director of asset management at Al Rayan Investment in Doha.

Ezdan Holding accounted for 43 percent of the market’s trading value, tumbling its daily 10 percent limit.

The stock had previously surged on the decision to include it in MSCI’s emerging index at the end of this month; the jump in trading volume indicated passive funds tracking the index were already moving into the stock, prompting local investors to book profits.

Despite the plunge, Ezdan is still sitting on gains of 8.9 percent since its inclusion was announced on May 12.

Another newly included stock, Qatar Insurance, was one of a few gainers and surged 5.3 percent on Thursday, indicating that local investors had not been buying it as aggressively as Ezdan.