Tadawul Review:

Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) declined by 50 points on Monday ‎recording third day of straight losses to settle at 10,747 levels. The ‎index has closed at the lowest closing level since the beginning of ‎the year. Monday's session saw sharp intraday volatility, with TASI ‎opening the session negatively, retreating from the previous closing ‎by -113 points, and continuing its decline in the first hour of ‎trading, reaching its intraday low with a decrease of -219 points. ‎From there, the index began to gain momentum as it reduced all of ‎its losses and gained 41 points, its intraday high. The index ‎retreated in the closing auction. In general, 14 sectors out of 20 ‎closed in the green zone, while 150 shares rose and 58 fell. Energy ‎‎(-2.4%), Telecom (-2.1%), and Utilities (-2.4%) sectors were the ‎major drags on the index and contributed a total of -38 points. ‎Stocks-wise, Aramco (-2.6%), STC (-2.7%), and SABIC (-2.3%) pulled ‎the index down the most. The trading activity witnessed a ‎remarkable improvement in volume and value by 49% and 70%, ‎respectively, to reach 111mn shares and SAR4.4 bn. Following -22.2% ‎correction in the index from its 2022 peak, investors are looking for ‎value buying opportunities though volatility in oil prices remains a ‎major concern. The index is likely to fluctuate around 11k mark.‎

 

 

Market Wrap International:

The global equity indices moved in tandem with almost all major indices closing in red on the back of the latest hawkish remarks by Fed officials, and COVID-19 related protests in China. The dollar index moved higher as investors preferred safe heaven while commodity prices further softened. In the U.S, the benchmark S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite trimmed recent gains to drop by -1.5% and -1.6%. Investors ignored better than expected estimates for retail sales during festive season in the U.S as concerns on supply-chain remained at the forefront.

In Europe, the benchmark Stoxx Euro 600 Index fell by -0.7% on Monday on the events in China. The country level indices also moved down. Investors opted to stay cautious following a period of strong returns in the past six weeks. Energy and mining names were invariably the biggest drags.

In Asia, the key drivers for the region were the latest updates from China where protests on strict COVID restrictions emerged while the fresh cases in the country remain high. The election loss by the ruling party in Taiwan also weighed on. The benchmarks in Hong Kong (Hang Seng: -1.6%) and China (Shanghai Composite: -0.7%) partially recovered intraday losses. Tech heavy indices in Taiwan (TAIEX: -1.5%) and Korea (KOSPI: -1.2%) were also down on demand worries. SENSEX in India (+0.3%) was the only outlier in the region.