Tadawul Review:

Tadawul All Share Index’s (TASI) advanced for the second consecutive day adding 288 points (+2.3%) to close at 12,589 levels. The index opened with a positive gap of 32 points and continued to rise throughout the day closing just 43 points below its day-high levels. The usual suspects namely Banks (+3.3%), Materials (+1.8%), and Energy (+2.1%) were at the forefront of today’s rally adding a total of 204 points. Al Rajhi Bank (+3.2%), ARAMCO (+2.1%), and Riyad Bank (+8.3%) added 58, 43, and 33 points to the index gains. The increase in TASI was across the board with 16 of 20 sectors closing positive and the market recording advance to gain ratio of 0.65x. Trading volumes and value also jumped up by 17% and 26% to 184mn shares and SAR8.6bn.

 

 

Market Wrap International:

After the FOMC policy minutes revealed the committee perceived aggressive rises as offering flexibility later this year, U.S. equities rose on Wednesday, but Treasury rates were little changed. With 75% of equities up, the S&P500 rose +0.95%, boosted by 1.21% gains in technology, 2.78% gains in consumer discretionary, and 1.96% gains in energy. The Dow Jones gained 0.60%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.51%. The second estimates of Q1 GDP are projected to indicate the economy declined at a -1.3% annualised pace compared to +6.9% in Q4 2021, with inflation expected to decelerate year-on-year to April on Friday.

European shares were also up after Germany's GDP increased by 3.8% year-on-year in the first quarter, compared to predictions of +3.7% and up from +1.8% earlier. Meanwhile, consumer confidence in Germany remained low, at -26, compared to -26.6 earlier. With most markets rising across the area, the Euro Stoxx 600 rose +0.63%, as did the DAX +0.63%, CAC +0.73%, and FTSE100 +0.51%.

Asian markets closed slightly positive as investors bought stocks trading at attractive levels. Chinese stocks steadied with SH Composite rising by 1.2% as the central bank urged lenders to boost loans. In Hong Kong, Hang Seng was also up 0.3%. In South Korea, KOSPI rose by 0.4% led by defense stocks after North Korea fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile. In Japan, Nikkei 225 closed lower by 0.3% while SENSEX also slid by 0.6%.