Tadawul Review:

Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) gained 113 points (+0.9%), closing the last session of the week at 12,769 levels. The market commenced in positive at 12,720 levels, +0.5% higher than yesterday’s close, and then underwent a session of gain and closed in the green despite losing 62 points in the closing auction. Many sectors ended the session positive, including the Energy sector which increased by 1.9%. ARAMCO and PETRO RABIGH recorded gains of +2.1% and +2.9%, respectively. The Insurance sector gained +3.2% due to the majority of the firms within the sector closing in the green. BUPA ARABIA rose by more than 8% to SAR 182/sh, hitting a fresh all-time high. The banking sector also recorded an increase of +2.0% courtesy of several banks recording gains including ALINMA and ALRAJHI which soared +3.5% and +3.4%, respectively. Trading volumes increased by +31%, and values gained +62% reaching a 3-month high as the global index provider, FTSE Russell implemented changes to FTSE Saudi Arabia Inclusion Index Series.

Market Wrap International:

The S&P500 edged up on Friday, extending a wild week highlighted by international concerns over Ukraine's conflict and the Federal Reserve's commencement of a rate-hike cycle. The benchmark index was up 1.2%, headed by the information technology and consumer discretionary sectors. The Nasdaq 100 index, which is heavily weighted in technology, outperformed, rising 2.0%, while the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was up +0.8%. Stocks in the United States have risen steadily this week, with the three major indices posting their greatest three-day gains since 2020 on Thursday.

In Europe, major markets managed to end the week’s last session on a positive note. The broad-based index in Europe, Stoxx600 managed to rise in the last trading hour after being flat for the majority of the session, increasing by +0.6% to extend the winning streak to three sessions. In Germany, DAX added +0.2% after struggling on Thursday (-0.4%). FTSE 100 and CAC 40 also rose slightly by +0.3% and +0.1% respectively.

In Asia, markets followed their peers as most of the markets were green on Friday. In China, although SHCOMP was able to rise by +1.1% in the last session of the week, it was down by (-1.6%) WoW, after losing -7.6% in early week’s sessions. In Hong Kong, Hang Seng ended the session -0.4% lower, but gained approximately +16.12% in the past two sessions to show signs of market recovery. In Japan, Nikkei 225 rose by +0.7% on Friday. Sensex and Kospi also advanced +1.8% and +0.5% respectively.