Tadawul Review: 

Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) rose on Wednesday, up by +146 points (+1.2%) to close at 12,622 levels. TASI started the session positively, up by 22 points, and continued to rise during the session untill the end. In general, 16 of 21 sectors closed in the green zone, and 173 shares rose while 55 fell. Banks (+2.3%), Materials (+2.6%), and Real Estate (+2.5%) sectors contributed the most to the index rise. Stockwise, Al Rajhi Bank (+2.7%), Saudi National Bank (+2.0%), Sabic (+3.7%) were the major contributors to the index’s rise. The trading activity witnessed an increase in volume and value of 2% and 9%, respectively, to reach 279mn shares and SAR 8.3bn in value traded.

 

 

 

Market Wrap International:

In the U.S., the S&P 500 advanced on Wednesday by 0.1% as investors found comfort in services sector data that fell short of expectations. This provided relief to concerns about the Federal Reserve's cautious approach to monetary easing, given the strong performance of the U.S. economy. However, there was a 0.2% rise in the Nasdaq composite, while the Dow Jones declined by -0.1%.

In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 index gained by 0.3% on Wednesday as investors also assessed softening euro zone inflation data that cemented the case for European Central Bank interest rate cuts. The FTSE 100 slightly increased by 0.03%.

In Asia, the Hang Seng Index fell by -1.2% following China's central bank's commitment to a prudent monetary policy with a focus on counter-cyclical adjustments, domestic demand stimulation, and confidence boosting. Meanwhile, the Shanghai Composite Index declined by 0.2%. The Nikkei 225 fell by -1.0%, and the TOPIX index saw a decline of -0.3%.