Stock markets in Saudi Arabia and Egypt declined in early trade on Wednesday as China's decision to further devalue the yuan put pressure on commodities and emerging market equities.
Saudi Arabia's main index fell 1.5 percent and nearly all stock were in the red. Petrochemicals heavyweight Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), whose earnings are sensitive to oil prices, dropped 3.3 percent.
The sell-off also affected other sectors. The kingdom's biggest listed foodmaker, Savola Group, fell 2.6 percent and National Commercial Bank, the biggest local lender, was down 2 percent.
Egypt's bourse fell 1.2 percent in another broad decline, tracking global emerging markets whose index was down 1.6 percent.
Property developer Talaat Moustafa Group fell 1.7 percent despite reporting a 12 percent increase in profit for the first half of 2015. According to Reuters calculations, its second-quarter profit was 206 million pounds, slightly ahead of the estimate of Naeem brokerage which had forecast 196 million.
