Tadawul Review:

Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) closed Wednesday's session up for the second day in a row by +90 points (+0.9%), to close at 10,192 levels. TASI started the session positively, up +21 points from the previous close, and reached its intraday high +114 points only to trim some of its gains (-24 points). In general, 13 out of 20 sectors closed in the green zone, while 137 stocks rose and 70 fell. Banks (+2.2%), Telecom (+1.6%), and Insurance (+2.3%) sectors contributed the most to the index's rise of +88 points. Stock-wise, Al Rajhi Bank (+2.6%), Riyad Bank (+5.4%), and Saudi British Bank (+5%) contributed most to the rise of the index. The trading activity witnessed a decline in the volume and value of trading by 29% and 39%, respectively, to reach 169mn shares and SAR4.1bn. TASI may extend its recovery into the third session though the volatility in international markets remains a major risk.

 

 

 

Market Wrap International:

The global equity markets swung wildly on Wednesday with a slew of surprises on economic data from China, Germany and the investors’ concerns on higher yields on the U.S treasuries. The treasury yields in the U.S rose again to fresh multi-year high. Yields on 10-year bonds crossed over 4% mark. In the U.S, the benchmark S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite made a positive start to a new month but gave up intraday gains to close with losses of 0.5% and 0.7%. Three out of eleven sectors on the S&P 500 edged higher.

In Europe, the initial positive sentiment on growing optimism over commodity prices post release of strong economic data in China quickly fizzled out post the release of stronger than expected CPI data in Germany. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index pared intraday gains to close with a loss of 0.7%. Country level indices too closed exhibited similar intraday volatility. The PMI data for the region recorded a decline in line with similar trends seen in Germany and France.

 

In Asia, China reported above-expected manufacturing data, substantiating analysts’ view on strong recovery in economic growth following the removal of COVID-19 related restrictions. The PMI for manufacturing rose to 52.6 in Feb-23, ahead of the consensus forecast of 50.6. The data inspired a rally in Hang Seng (+4.2%) in Hong Kong and Shanghai Composite (+1%) in China. Investors are still expecting new stimulus measures in China at the conclusion of the ongoing meeting of the National People’s Congress. Other Asian benchmarks jumped 0.2-0.8%. Korean market was closed for trading due to a national holiday.  ‎