Tadawul Review:

Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) opened the last day of the week on a higher note, but failed to maintain the momentum and slipped past its last close to end the week at 12,477 levels, down 0.1% DoD. Trading remained choppy throughout the day with 10 of 20 sectors ending lower as investors were keen on booking profits. Banks, Materials, and Telecom lead the index decline while the Real Estate sector closed positive. Liquidity remained nearly flat DoD while share traded declined by 10% DoD to 219mn shares. Tadawul has posted a remarkable recovery during the week, gaining 208 points WoW (+1.7%) despite exogenous factors weighing down the market at the start of the week. Overall, the market is currently at record high levels thanks to strong 4Q results and high commodity prices.

 

Market Wrap International:

Stocks finished lower on Friday, ending a second week of losses, but bonds gained as investors sought refuge from Russia-Ukraine tensions ahead of the long Presidents Day weekend. Officials in the United States have warned that a Russian attack is imminent, despite the Russian foreign minister agreeing to meet with US Secretary of State Blinken next week. News that might have otherwise cheered investors, such as an increase in previously-owned home sales last month and comments from key Federal Reserve officials suggesting that the central bank might raise interest rates by a quarter point rather than a half point, were overshadowed by concerns about the war. The S&P 500 dropped 1.6 percent this week, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.8 percent.

European stocks dipped on Friday as traders remained jittery due to conflicting information about the military situation in Ukraine, while option expirations contributed to the day's turbulence. By the closing in London, the Stoxx 600 Europe Index had fallen 0.8 percent, bringing its weekly losses to 1.9 percent. As the Nasdaq 100 fell, travel and leisure led the sector decline, followed by technology. Nickel and aluminum prices reached new highs which led miners to outperform.

In the midst of persistent tensions around Russia and Ukraine, Asian equities slumped as renewed concerns about China's regulatory assault on industries weakened optimism. A drop in consumer discretionary stocks drove down the MSCI Asia Pacific Index, which fell as much as 0.9 percent. Meituan led the sector's falls, falling 15% after China published new guidelines requiring food-delivery platforms to reduce restaurant rates. Hong Kong (-1.9%) had the worst performance in the region.