Tadawul Review:  

Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) advanced on ‎Thursday, gaining +70 points (+0.7%) to close at ‎‎10,834. The index opened almost flat at 10,765 and ‎moved sideways in early trading before climbing ‎steadily in the second half of the session to finish at ‎the day’s high. Overall, 17 out of 21 sectors closed in ‎the green, with 174 shares rising and 74 declining. ‎Banks (+1.3%), Materials (+0.9%), and Food & ‎Beverages (+1.0%) provided the strongest sector ‎support. Stockwise, Al Rajhi Bank (+1.4%), Saudi ‎National Bank (+2.0%), and Maaden (+1.3%) were the ‎biggest contributors to the index gains. Trading ‎activity improved, with volume up 4% and value up 4% ‎from the prior day, reaching 243mn shares and SAR ‎‎4.4bn.‎

 

 

Market Wrap International:

U.S. stocks ended mixed Friday, with the S&P 500 easing from record highs as investors took profits and weighed strong retail sales and hotter wholesale inflation against Fed rate-cut hopes. Financials, tech, and industrials led the pullback. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.1%, while NASDAQ dropped by -0.4% and the S&P 500 posted a decrease of -0.3%.

European stocks closed mixed, as mining shares advanced while AstraZeneca gained on the launch of a new flu prevention option in the U.S. The CAC 40 gained by 0.7%, while the Euro STOXX 600 decreased by -0.1%. and the Euro FTSE 100 declined by -0.4% and the DAX saw a decline of -0.1%.

Asian markets ended mixed, as strong Japanese growth was weighed down by weaker Chinese data, while oil prices eased ahead of the US-Russia summit on Ukraine. The SHCOMP gained by 0.8%, the NIKKEI 225 advanced by 1.7%, while Hang Seng posted a decline of -1%.