RIYADH: Saudi trades in US markets took a dip by 48 percent during the first quarter of 2022, recording the first annual drop in two years. Saudi investors’ purchase and sale of US stocks fell to SR40 billion ($11 billion) in the first quarter, from SR77 billion in the same period a year ago, the Saudi market regulator reported. Compared with the fourth quarter of 2021, Saudi Arabia’s trade in US stocks decreased by SR6 billion in the first quarter from SR46 billion. Saudi stocks traded on the Asian market also declined, falling to SR15 million from SR48 million a year earlier. Meanwhile, Saudi trade in the GCC and European markets rose to SR1.8 billion and SR311 million during the first quarter, respectively.