Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) declined for the fourth consecutive day, losing 126 points (-1.1%) to close at 11,446 levels, marking the lowest closing since July 17, 2022. The volatility in oil prices was the major reason for the decline in the index. TASI struggled to change its course in the initial trading session but soon succumbed to selling pressure to mark an intraday low of -198-point. The index managed to make partial recovery towards the session end. In general, the decline was broad-based as 18 of the 20 sectors closed in the red zone. Out of 212 stocks, only 51 closed with a positive closing price. The decline was led by the Banks, which was the largest contributor (-1.9%) with a total of -82 points, followed by the Energy (-0.7%) and Real Estate (-1.7%) sectors. Index heavyweights, namely Saudi National Bank (-2.5%), Al-Rajhi Bank (-1.3%) and Banque Saudi Fransi (-5.7%), pulled the index down the most. Trading activity also witnessed a decline in the volume and value of trading for the second day by -9% and -5%, respectively, to reach 125mn shares SAR4.8bn. Risk of further downside in TASI appears increasingly limited with the trading 7% below its 200DMA. That said, investors may decide to stay cautious ahead of an important policy decision by the Fed on Wednesday.
The global equity indices went through yet another volatile session on Monday with Fed rate hike, concerns on recession and FX pressure in the EM making headlines. In the U.S, the treasury yields once again jumped across the tenures ahead of the keenly awaited Fed policy decision on Wednesday. The benchmark equity indices stayed negative for most of the session before paring losses and closing with modest gains. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite gained 0.7% and 0.8% at the session close.
In Europe, the benchmark Stoxx Euro 600 Index exhibited a similar trading move with the index trading in red territory (intraday low of -0.6%) before paring losses and closed with little change. The latest warning from Germany’s central bank, Bundesbank, also added to pressure. The U.K market was closed for trading on Monday.
In Asia, markets were under pressure for the fifth straight session with concerns on both global growth and domestic currency driving the prices low. HangSeng Index (-1%) in Hong Kong and KOSPI (-1.1%) in Korea were the major laggards. India’s SENSEX Index managed to buckle the overall regional trade and rose by 0.5% at session’s close.