JEDDAH: A fresh slide of oil prices to 11-year lows sent Saudi Arabia’s stock market tumbling on Wednesday, while Egypt was caught up in a global equities downtrend.

The Saudi bourse was moderately lower for most of the day and its losses snowballed in late trade as Brent crude futures plunged 4 percent to below $35 a barrel.

This ravaged petrochemical shares, whose margins are linked to oil prices, were already weak after rises in gas feedstock prices announced in Saudi Arabia’s 2016 budget deprived Saudi petrochemical producers of some of their cost advantage.

Blue chip Saudi Basic Industries Corp. sank 3.8 percent and the petrochemical sector index lost 4.8 percent.

The main Saudi Tadawul All-Share Index closed 3.3 percent lower at 6,518 points, its lowest level since November 2012.

Most stocks were caught in the sell-off, with miner Maaden plunging 7.4 percent. Only nine of 166 traded stocks rose, most of them thinly traded.

Major food producer Savola edged up in early trade but the stock closed 3.0 percent lower. after losing 13 percent in the previous two days.

Other Gulf bourses closed before the latest oil price drop.

Qatar rose 1.1 percent to 10,071 points as telecommunications shares rebounded after several days of losses.

Ooredoo gained 5.3 percent in moderate volume.

Dubai edged down 0.2 percent as Emaar Properties sank 1.5 percent.

Abu Dhabi fell 0.3 percent as First Gulf Bank dropped 2.0 percent, though telecommunications blue chip Etisalatadded 1.9 percent.

Egypt’s index sank 1.4 percent as Commercial and International Bank pulled back 2.7 percent. However, United Arab Stevedoring Co. jumped 9.4 percent in its heaviest volume since July.