Tadawul Review:

Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) successfully knitted together two successive sessions of gains posting gains of 90 points (0.7%) to close at 13,734 levels. On the last trading day before the Eid holidays, the index initially declined during the first trading hour before recovering to add 113 points from its low. Overall, 11 out of 20 sectors closed in the green with the usual suspects namely Bank and Energy sectors leading the index rally. The Banking sector (+0.6%) added 34 points while Energy and Telecom sectors added 13 and 11 points to the index rally. The Saudi National Bank, Aramco, and Saudi Telecom were the major index movers rising by 5.3%, 1.2%, and 2.3% respectively.  The trading volume inched up by 1.4% to 152 mn shares while the value traded increased by a significant 10.4%.

 

 

 

Market Wrap International:

After a solid jobs report on Friday which gave fuel to lingering concerns about rising inflation, US stocks fell for the fifth week in a row, their longest losing streak in more than a decade. The S&P 500 Index finished -0.6% lower, bringing its weekly loss to -0.2%. It hasn't dropped for five weeks in a row since 2011. The materials, communications services, and consumer discretionary sectors led the losses in nine of the 11 major industry categories. The Nasdaq 100 Index, which is heavily weighted in technology, sank -1.2%, extending its longest losing streak since 2012. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -0.2%.

European equities fell to their lowest level in over two months on Friday, as investors worried about a dismal economic outlook, skyrocketing prices, and rising bond yields. The Pan European Stoxx 600 Index fell -1.9%, with the real estate and media sectors among the largest losers. Oil rose for the first time in two weeks since early March, indicating that the market is tightening as the European Union moves toward banning Russian petroleum.

As traders questioned whether the Federal Reserve's interest rate boost would be adequate to combat inflation, Asian equities were headed for a fifth consecutive day of losses, and Chinese leaders warned against doubting their Covid-Zero attitude. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell -1.8%, putting it on track for its worst losing streak since January and lowest closing level since July 2020. The global selloff came after sharp drops in US stocks overnight, with benchmarks in Australia, Taiwan, and Vietnam all down more than -1.7%.