Tadawul Review:

Tadawul All Share Index’s (TASI) ended its worst month (-5.9% MoM), since November last year, on a positive note, adding 15 points to close at 12,922 levels. The market opened in the positive territory and maintained its momentum to add 127 points during the first trading hour. Thereafter, the market lost steam as profit-taking kicked in shaving 113 points. Only 8 sectors managed to close positive while the advance to decline ratio was at 0.7x. Energy (+1.1%), Materials (+0.5%), and Real Estate (+1.0%) cumulatively added 23 points while Banks alone managed to trim 14 points. Saudi National Bank (+3.6%), ARAMCO (+1.1), and Ma’aden (+8.3%) were the major contributors for the day while Al Rajhi (-1.3%) was the major drag. Trading volumes and value remained elevated by 71% and 82% to 387mn shares and SAR18.0bn on the back of the implementation of changes according to MSCI’s semi-annual review.

 

 

 Market Wrap International:

Following Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller's more hawkish comments on Monday, U.S. equities fell on Tuesday, keeping key indices unchanged for the month, while Treasury rates increased. On Tuesday, the S&P500 fell -0.63%, led by decreases in health care (-1.37%) and technology (-0.70%), with energy leading losses (-1.65%). Consumer discretionary was the best performing sector, up +0.76%. The Dow Jones was down -0.67%, the Nasdaq Composite was down -0.41%, and the Russell 2000 was down -1.26%. The S&P500 surged more than +8% after sliding to within points of a -20% collapse from all-time highs, often seen as signaling a bear market, in a turbulent month that saw key indices virtually unchanged for the month.

European markets fell on Tuesday as inflation in the Eurozone reached new highs, fueled by rising energy and food prices. Headline inflation reached +8.1% year on year to May, above predictions of +7.7%, with core inflation climbing more than expected to +3.8% from +3.5% during the same period. The Euro Stoxx 600 fell -0.72%, the DAX -1.29%, and the CAC -1.43%, with benchmarks falling across the region except for the FTSE100, which rose +0.10%, aided by a +9.43% jump in Unilever shares after activist investor Nelson Peltz joined its board.

Asian markets rose led by the Chinese market after Shanghai further eased COVID-19 related restrictions and China’s factory activity showed signs of improvement.  The SH Composite, in China, recorded gains of 1.2% led by the tech and communication sectors. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng was up 1.4% while in the South Korean market, KOSPI inched up by 0.6%. Nikkei 225 remained subdued closing in the red (-0.3%) and SENSEX also declined by 0.6%.