Shares in Kingdom Holding, 95 percent of which is owned by billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, dived 9.9 percent as the Saudi stock exchange opened Sunday after reports of his arrest.

The Saudi Tadawul All-Shares Index (TASI) also dropped 1.6 percent only a minute after the start of trading on the Arab world's largest stock market following a sweeping crackdown on corruption that saw the arrest of leading royals and businessmen.