Tadawul Review:

The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) fell for the third day on Wednesday’s session, falling by -61 points (-0.5%) to close at the 12,137 level. TASI began the session on a positive note, gaining 17 points initially, but started to decline gradually throughout the session to close at its intraday low. Overall, 12 out of 20 sectors closed in the red zone, while 123 shares fell and 90 rose. Banks (-0.4%), Materials (-1.0%), and Energy (-1.0%) sectors contributed the most to the index fall. Stockwise, Aramco (-1.1%), Al Rajhi Bank (-0.5%), and Sabic  (-1.4%) were the major contributors. The trading activity witnessed a decline in volume and value by -1% and -12%, respectively, to reach 428mn shares ‎and SAR8.0bn in value traded.

 

 

 

Market Wrap International:

The U.S. stock market closed with mixed results, as the S&P 500 rose by +0.6% with 7 out of eleven sectors rising and the Nasdaq composite showed a gain of +0.8%. Investors were eagerly anticipating the release of U.S. inflation data later in the week. Meanwhile, bitcoin experienced volatility following the dissemination of a fake social media message on the U.S. securities regulator's account. The dollar edged lower on Wednesday in cautious trading.

In Europe, the data showed that the euro zone may have been in a recession last quarter, with weak prospects ahead, making investors likely to feel cautious about the euro zone's economic outlook in light of these factors. The Stoxx Europe 600 fell -0.2% on Wednesday, and the FTSE 100 index closed lower by -0.4%.

In Asia, the Hang Seng index declined by -0.6%, and the Shanghai Composite index experienced a decline of -0.5%. on Wednesday as China's central bank struggles with deflation and credit flows more towards production than consumption, highlighting structural flaws and diminishing the effectiveness of monetary policy tools. In Japan, both the TOPIX and Nikkei 225 indices ended the day with gains of 1.3% and 2.0%, respectively.