Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) closed Monday’s session up for the second day in a row and added another +60points (+0.6%) to close at 10,218 levels. TASI opened the session negatively, down by 35 points from the previous close, Then the index reversed its course until it reached the closing point. In general, 11 out of 20 sectors closed in the green zone, while 110 stocks rose and 94 fell. Banks (+1.3%), Health care equipment and services (+1. %), and Food and beverages (+0.6%) sectors contributed the most to the index's rise of +51 points. Stock-wise, Saudi National Bank (+3.9%), Al Rajhi Bank (+1.4%), and Riyadh Bank (+3.8%) contributed most to the rise of the index. The trading activity witnessed an increase in volume and value by 52% and 34%, respectively, to reach 179mn shares and SAR4.5bn. TASI is likely to sustain its recovery in near-term witht he supports from oil prices and clarity over banking stocks.
The global equity markets remained in a tentative mode with the announcement of a deal between UBS-Credit Suisse and the impending decision by the Fed later this week. The crunch in financial sectors in the U.S remained in the focus as the regulators in the U.S extended the time to auction the two troubled banks taken over by the authorities. Meanwhile, the stock price of First Republican Bank, another bank with financial distress, dropped on Monday despite significant injection of liquidity by the banking peers in the U.S. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite reflected the investors’ cautious mode and moved in a close range to close with minor gains of +0.9% and +0.4% respectively. Material and Financial sectors gained 2% and 1.2% respectively.
In Europe, the regional benchmarks and the country level indices reflected a relief rally and were up 0.9-1.3%. The losses suffered by bond holders in Credit Suisse as a result of the merger made investors cautious. The UBS stocks moved widely before settling with +1.3% at the session end.
In Asia, markets absorbed the volatility in the international markets over the weekend and were down 0.2-2.7%. The initial gains in Shanghai Composite due to a surprise cut in the reserves requirement in China were wiped out quickly. HangSeng (-2.7%) was the worst hit due to the drag from both financial and tech names.