Tadawul Review:

Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) maintained its place in the green zone for the seventh consecutive session, increasing by 163 points (+1.2%) to set a new multi-year high of 13,646 levels. The latest push for the index came from the Banks sector (+3.1%) and the Energy sector (+0.7%). All the banking stocks closed on a positive note including BJAZ, SAIB, and ALBILAD which recorded a massive gain of +7.2%, +8.8%, and +9%, respectively. In the Energy sector, SAUDI ARAMCO climbed +0.7% amid trading volume above 10 million. The Media and Entertainment sector also closed in the green zone with a gain of +2.1% as ALARABIA contributed with an increase of +5.5%. ALMUNAJEM was the top gainer for Tuesday’s session, closing at its upper limit of +10% and adding to the overall increase of +0.5% in the Food & Staples Retailing sector. Trading volumes and values further surged +18.1% and +11.4%, respectively.

Market Wrap International:

After U.S. core inflation was softer than predicted and Treasury yields fell, U.S. equities finished lower on Tuesday, reversing an earlier surge, while oil spiked above US$100 after Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested peace talks with Ukraine had reached a stalemate. Headline inflation increased to +8.5% from +7.9% earlier, exceeding expectations of +8.4%, with gasoline costs accounting for half of the monthly increase of +1.2%. Equity indices climbed briefly before reversing course and closing down ahead of the commencement of Q1 2022 results tonight, with JP Morgan being the first large bank to report. The S&P500 fell -0.3%, led by health care (-0.9%) and financials (-1.1%), while energy excelled (+1.72%) as oil prices roses. The Dow Jones also weakened -0.3%, as did the Nasdaq Composite -0.3%

In Europe, all indices closed lower amid fears of rate hikes by the Fed and the ongoing lockdown in China. The European Stoxx 600 traded mostly negative in today’s session, ending down by -0.4%. In Germany, with the release of the inflation data which reached 7.3% (30 year high), DAX dipped for the second session by -0.5%. In the UK, the labor data showed a reduced demand for workers, as a result, FTSE 100 slipped by -0.5%. French benchmark (CAC 40) closed negative by -0.3% after two sessions of gains.

In Asia, most major markets were mixed on Tuesday. China’s SHCOMP managed to surge in the afternoon and ended the day +1.5% up, recovering some of yesterday’s fall. Likewise, Hang Seng rose by +0.5%. However, Japan’s Nikkei 225 started the session lower and continued the decline to end -1.8% down on concerns regarding the US interest rate decision. The Korean index, KOSPI slipped by -1%, alongside SENSEX in India, which lost -0.7%.