Tadawul Review:

Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) remained unchanged at the end of a volatile session on Monday, adding only 6 points (+0.05%) to close at the level of 12,560. The index opened the session 17 points lower than the previous day's closing, before declining by another 34 points to reach its lowest level of the day during the first two hours of trading. After that, TASI rose and swung in a range of 103 points and reached its highest at 12,606 at the end of the session, but TASI lost -46 points during the closing auction. In general, 11 out of 20 sectors closed in the green, 89 stocks rose, and 117 stocks fell. The Energy (-1.1%) and Media and Entertainment (-2.0%) sectors were the major drag on the index. Amongst the stocks, Al Rajhi Bank (+0.9%), Bank Albilad (+3.5%), and MAADEN (+1.6%) stocks contributed to the stability and rise of the index. The top gainers for this session were the Saudia Dairy and Foodstuff Company (+10.0%), respectively, and the Astra Industrial Group (+6.3%). The trading activity witnessed an improvement in the volume and value of trading by +7% and +5% to reach 138mn shares and SAR5.8bn.

 

Market Wrap International:

The first trading session of the week turned out to be a big volatility day with all major indices, barring China, sustaining more losses.  Fed policy stance, commodity prices, and economic data played on investors' sentiments. Currency markets saw new records with the dollar strengthening pushing Euro, Pound, and Yuan to recent lows. Commodity prices too came under pressure due to growing concerns about recession. In the U.S, the benchmark S&P 500 Index fell by 2.1% while Nasdaq Composite dropped by 2.6%. The yields on U.S treasuries remained upward sticky with 10-Yr US bonds briefly touching the 3% mark in intraday trading. All 11 major sectors in S&P 500 were in the red.

In Euro, the benchmark Euro 600 Index fell by 1.0%, recording its fourth session of straight decline. The region’s two biggest economies - U.K and Germany, have faced the fallout of commodity prices and economic slowdown. The Euro further lost its value against the USD and traded below parity again. The gas price benchmark rose over 18%, highlighting the energy supply woes in the region.

In Asia, China’s central bank expectedly delivered a much-needed relief for the economy and cut the five-year prime lending rate by 15bps, the second cut in rate since May. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.6% for the session with stocks of Real Estate Developers leading the charge. Elsewhere, the risk-off trade was quite evident as investors' concerns about currency weakness in the EM economies and foreign outflows dragged indices down in the range of 1.1-1.2%.