Tadawul Review: 

Tadawul All Share Index (TASI), taking a cue from the international markets, slumped by 285 points (-2.2%) to 12,428 levels. From the get-go, TASI started its downward march opening with a negative gap of 229 points from the last close. The index touched a low of 364 points before investors started buying oversold stocks enabling TASI to pare some losses. All but two sectors were in the red with the advance to decline ratio of just 0.15x. The usual suspects namely Banking, Materials and Energy sector were responsible for the free-fall in the index contributing 105,38, and 24 points to the index decline. Saudi Industrial Export and Anaam holding were an exception to the overall trend, gaining 10% each. Trading volumes remained flat at 191mn shares while value declined by 4.9% to SAR8.5bn. In the last 9 trading sessions, the index has declined by a massive 1,392 points or 10%. TASI is likely to remain subdued in the near term, as worsening global economic conditions are likely to keep the investors cautious.  

 

 

 

 

 Market Wrap International:

 After another week of selling, the S&P 500 briefly entered into bear market territory before markets rallied late Friday. The broad index finished little changed after losing as much as 2.3% earlier in the day, leaving it more than 20% below its all-time high on Jan. 3, the technical definition of a bear market. The Nasdaq 100 Index, which is heavily weighted in technology, fell 0.3%, while the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average remained unchanged. The S&P 500 fell for the seventh week in a row, the longest losing sequence since March 2001, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell for the eighth week in a row, the longest skid since 1923.

On Friday, European markets erased previous gains, ending the week with a modest loss, as concerns over slowing economic growth held risk appetite in check. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index had gained 0.7%. The benchmark had risen as high as 1.8% earlier, but lost ground as US markets fell. Consumer shares fell, led by Richemont SA, which fell after stating Chinese demand will be slower than projected. Concerns about chronically high inflation and dangers to economic development from hawkish central banks have made European shares volatile this week. Consumer confidence in the UK has fallen to its multi-decade level as a result of rising costs.

Asian stock markets inched upwards as strong US economic data eased growth concerns while Chinese equities continued their descent.SH Composite (-0.25%) failed to follow the upward trajectory mainly due to property shares pulling the index down as data showed a decline in new home prices for April and tech stocks losing steam ahead of Tencent earnings. Hong Kong’s, Hang Seng index managed to rise by 0.2% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 also rose by 0.9%. KOSPI closed upwards by 0.2% while SENSEX, in India, was down by 0.2%.