Tadawul Review:
Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) advanced slightly on Thursday's session by +6 points, closing at 11,598 levels. TASI opened the session positively by 4 points, then dropped to its intraday low by -38 points in the first trading hour. However, TASI fluctuated for rest of the session and managed to pare its losses. In general, 14 out of 20 sectors closed in the green zone, while 134 of 223 stocks rose and 70 fell. Food and beverages (+2.0%), Insurance (+1.3%), and Health care equipment and services (+0.9%) sectors contributed the most to the index's (+15 points) rise. Stockwise, Almarai (+2.4%), Tawuniya (+6.2%), and Alinma Bank (+1.3%) were the major contributors. The trading activity witnessed a decline in volume and value of -4% and -23%, respectively, to reach 282 shares and SAR6.6bn in value traded.
The global equity markets closed the tumultuous week on a muted note despite the latest job payroll data in the U.S working to calm the investors’ nerves spooked by a blow-out job report released a day before. All in all, market’s view on the likelihood of further increase in interest rate remained dividend and the same was reflected in the volatility on the yields in the bond markets and direction of key equity gauges. Investors were also closely tracking the updates from a two-day visit of the U.S finance secretary to China. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite 100 Index added to weekly losses on Friday and were down by 0.1% and 0.3% at session close. The growth and tech names, the key drivers of recent rally, were the major drags for the indices.
In Europe, the investors’ sentiment remained fragile with economic data pointing to weak growth backdrop for the major economies of the region at a time when the inflationary pressure remained elevated. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index failed to capitalize on a positive start and pared intraday gain of 0.1% to close with minor change of +0.1%. Chemical and minor were the major gainers for the region.
In Asia, the key indices digested the economic data released in the U.S a day before and were down in the range of 0.3%-1.2%. The investors have taken a cautious view ahead of the important economic data on inflation in the U.S. The increase in the yields on the U.S bonds is broadly seen as negative for major currencies of the region.