REUTERS

The trading system of Saudi Arabia's Tadawul securities market resumed operations on Wednesday after trading was suspended in the morning for less than an hour due to a technical glitch, the exchange said.

The Saudi Exchange said "the technical issue has been resolved and trading services are now functioning normally."

With a market capitalisation of nearly $2.6 trillion, Tadawul is the Arab world's largest stock exchange.

Saudi Arabia's stock exchange has converted itself into a holding company and will be renamed Saudi Tadawul Group ahead of the listing this year, Group Chief Executive Khalid al-Hussan has said.

The group will have four subsidiaries: its bourse Saudi Exchange, securities clearing and depository businesses, and technology services.

It is planning an initial public offering of the group later this year and hired JP Morgan, (JPM.N) Citigroup (C.N) and the securities arm of Saudi National Bank (1180.SE) for its IPO.