Saudi shares closed flat on Saturday after rising slightly in early trade. The all-share closed at 6,663 points, while the banking sector added 0.5 per cent at 15,219 points.

Heavyweight Al Rajhi Bank gained 1.4 per cent while petrochemical giant Saudi Basic Industries (Sabic) added 0.3 per cent. The petrochemical index closed flat at 5,921 points.

Brent July crude fell 46 cents to settle at $99.47 a barrel on Friday. Saudi Arabia is the world's top oil exporter.

Earlier in the day the shares opened higher led by gains in the petrochemical and banking stocks with the all-share rising 1.2 per cent to hit 6,740 points.-Reuters