Tadawul Review:

Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) rose on Thursday, up by +19 points (+0.2%) to close at 12,631 levels. The session began with a positive opening of +4 points and continued to climb, reaching its intraday high during the first trading hour. However, the index later retraced its gains and gradually declined until the end of the trading session. In general, 10 out of 20 sectors closed in the green zone, and 96 shares rose while 122 fell.  Telecom (+1.5%), Utilities (+2.2%), and Insurance (+2.5%) sectors contributed the most to the index rise. Stockwise, ACWA Power (+2.3%), Saudi Telecom (+2.0%), and Makkah Construction (+4.0%) were the major contributors. The trading activity witnessed an increase in volume and value of 12% and 54%, respectively, to reach 549mn shares and SAR12.9bn in value traded.

 

 

 

Market Wrap International:

In the global markets, the weak U.S. economic data and comments from Federal Reserve officials boosted expectations for interest rate cuts. The S&P 500 index experienced a 0.8% increase, with 8 out of 11 sectors registering gains, notably led by Information Technology, which saw a significant rise of 1.78%. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones rose by +0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite recorded gains of 1.1%.

In Europe, stocks saw marginal gains on Friday, with the Stoxx Europe 600 index seeing a 0.6% increase and the FTSE 100 recording a gain of +0.7%. These gains were supported by positive earnings reports, while expectations of the European Central Bank easing interest rates from record highs were influenced by Euro zone inflation.

 

In Asia, the Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively, due to new property market policies boosting transactions. TOPIX increased by 1.3%, and Nikkei 225 edged up by 1.9%. Japan's factory output in January saw its steepest decline since May 2020, aligning with the Bank of Japan's plans to exit loose monetary policy and implement positive interest rates for the first time since 2016.