Tadawul Review: 

Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) fell on Tuesday’s session, with a significant decline of -267 points (-2.2%) to close at the 11,986 level. TASI opened the session on a positive note by 9 points but started to decline gradually during the session until the end. Overall all sectors closed in the red zone, while 216 shares fell and 12 rose. Banks (-2.6%), Materials (-2.5%), Food and beverages (-3.9%) sectors contributed the most to the index fall. Stockwise, Alrajhi Bank (-2.7%), Saudi National Bank (-1.9%), and ACWA Power (3.1%) were the major contributors. The trading activity witnessed an increase in volume and value of +24% and +14%, respectively, to reach 356mn shares and SAR9.4bn in value traded.

 

 

 

Market Wrap International:

In the U.S., as market consensus suggests that the Federal Reserve will keep rates at their highest since 2001, the S&P 500 ended the day down by -0.1%, with 5 out of 11 sectors falling. Money markets are currently pricing at a quarter-point rate cut by May, the first of its kind in recent times. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq composite also experienced a negative trend, closing up by -0.8% as the U.S. dollar edged lower agains Euro by -0.1%.

In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 registered an increase of 0.2% after data revealed that the euro zone narrowly escaped a technical recession in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 index closed with gains of 0.4%, while the market was concerned over the struggling German economy, creating a significant challenge for the export-driven nations in central Europe.

In Asia, the court-ordered liquidation of China Evergrande had a minimal impact on investors. Instead, market attention turned to Japan's employment data and the upcoming U.S. Federal Reserve policy statement. The Hang Seng Index fell by -2.3%, and the Shanghai Composite Index declined by -1.8      %. In Japan, the TOPIX index declined by -0.1% while the Nikkei 225 surged by 0.1%.