Tadawul Review:

Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) rose on Wednesday, up by ‎‎+10 points (+0.1%) to close at 12,611 levels. TASI opened the ‎session on a negative note of -7 points but started to rise ‎gradually throughout the session until the end. In general, 14 ‎out of 20 sectors closed in the green zone, and 161 shares ‎rose while 54 fell.  Real Estate (+1.2%), Retailing (+1.9%), and ‎Media (+2.5%) sectors contributed the most to the index rise. ‎Stockwise, ACWA Power (+1.3%), Riyad Bank (+1.0%), and ‎Saudi Research (+2.7%) were the major contributors. The ‎trading activity witnessed an increase in volume and value of ‎‎+6% and +13%, respectively, to reach 490mn shares and ‎SA8.4bn in value traded.‎

 

 

 

Market Wrap International:

In the global markets, Ahead of the U.S. inflation update, markets were in anticipation after a slight downward revision in U.S. economic growth for the fourth quarter. Consequently, attention turned to the central bank of New Zealand. On Wednesday, the bank decided to maintain the ‎cash rate at 5.5%. The S&P 500 index experienced a -0.2% ‎decline, with 7 out of 11 sectors registering gains, notably led ‎by Real Estate, which saw a significant rise of 1.28%. Meanwhile, ‎the Dow Jones fell by -0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite ‎recorded losses of -0.5%.‎

In Europe, shares closed negatively on Wednesday, as investors remained cautious ahead of a crucial ‎US inflation data release expected on Thursday. The Stoxx ‎Europe 600 index saw a decline of -0.4%, and the FTSE ‎‎100 recorded a dip of -0.8%. Economic sentiment in the ‎eurozone fell below expectations this month.‎

In Asia, Hang Seng fell by 1.5% and the Shanghai Composite ‎Index fell too, by -1.9%, following Hong Kong's scrapping of ‎tightening measures for residential properties, aiming to boost ‎the city's sluggish real estate market and support its modest ‎economic growth forecast of 2.5%–3.5% this year. Both the TOPIX ‎index and Nikkei 225 index declined by -0.1%.