Tadawul Review:

Tadawul All Share Index (TASI), continuing its trend from last week, lost 93 points (-0.7%) to close at 12,335 levels. The market maintained its downward trend since the start of the day, managing to touch a low of 12,252, before posting some recovery. This is TASI’s lowest closing level in 3 months. The market decline was broad-based with 15 out of 20 sectors closing in red and TASI exhibiting an advance to decline ratio of  0.37x. Banks (-1.0%), Energy (-1.4%) and Real Estate (-1.4%) were the major drags on the index while Telecom (+1.0%), Materials (+0.2%) and Healthcare (+1.3%) provided some relief. Trading volumes and value swelled significantly to 784mn shares and SAR12.7bn. The uptick in trading activities was primarily due to SAR5.7bn worth of negotiated deal of Kingdom Holding whereby Prince Alwaleed sold 16.9% (625mn shares) of his stake to the PIF at SAR9.09/sh. 

 

 Market Wrap International:

The S&P 500 Index recovered late Friday to avoid entering formal bear market territory, but it has already lost seven consecutive weeks for the first time since 2001. Investors may be nervous heading into next week, as more retailers are expected to report their earnings, following the shocking financial results from Target and Walmart, which triggered widespread selling across sectors. Costco, Best Buy, Nordstrom, and Macy's are just a handful of the consumer-facing corporations to keep an eye on. Next week, Fed speakers will return to the stage, and FOMC minutes will be issued just as traders begin to weigh the impact of recession talk on future rate rise prospects.

Manufacturing production and industrial confidence indicators will offer a light on the economic impact as the inflationary shock takes effect in Europe. The PMI survey for the euro area is expected to maintain steady in May, according to Bloomberg, although the prospect of stagflation will remain on investors' minds. The euro-area PMI survey for May will offer yet another indicator of the impact of the Ukraine conflict and the resulting surge in commodity prices on the economy of the monetary union. However, the headline composite statistic is expected to hold up in May.