Tadawul Review:

Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) underwent another session of gains, rising by 98 points (+0.8%) to close at 12,562 levels, as Aramco finally surpassed its previous high and reached 40.2/sh, its intra-day high (+6.6%) but closed at 39.25/sh (+4.1%), to reflect rising oil prices. The market started the session on a buying pressure and reached its intra-day high in the first trading hours; thereafter, it declined slightly as investors are booking profits. Almost all sectors but three closed in green zone, Although Alinma and Riyadh Banks rose (+3% both), Banking sectors closed in red (-0.2%) dragged by Al Rajhi, falling (-2.1%), Energy soared (+3.6%) supported by Aramco’s rally, Materials recovered and rose by (+1%). Trading volumes and values advanced by +31% and +20% respectively. Although Oil prices reached almost USD100/bbl, geopolitical tensions threaten market stability and sentiment.

Market Wrap International:

With continuing global concerns impacting on morale, U.S. equities traded down on Tuesday, catching up after markets were halted for a public holiday on Monday. The S&P500 was -1.0% lower, paring earlier losses of more than 1%. The Dow Jones fell -1.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell -1.2%. In response to Russia's deployment of so-called peacekeeping forces in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region, US Vice President Joe Biden said the US was working closely with Germany to prevent the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline. In response, the United Kingdom and the European Union imposed penalties on Russian banks, lawmakers, and billionaires.

Following the introduction of sanctions, European stocks were mixed, but they pared greater losses, bringing some relief that a new crisis or a protracted military engagement may still be avoided. The Euro Stoxx 600 rebounded from a -2% loss to gain +0.07% for the session, while the FTSE100 gained +0.13%, and the DAX and CAC fell -0.26 percent and -0.01 percent, respectively. In economic news, Germany's Ifo Business Climate survey for September rose to 98.9 from 96, beating expectations of 96.5. Both German consumer confidence for March and the final reading of Eurozone inflation for January will be in focus tonight, with core prices likely to ease to +2.3 percent from 2.6 percent previously over the year.

In Asia, major markets closed in the red zone amid the escalating geopolitical tensions. In China, consumer and tech stocks were the worst hit as investors dumped riskier assets. SHCOMP struggled in Tuesday's session and closed -1% lower. Similarly, in Hong Kong, the tech crackdown impacted Hang Seng significantly as it fell nearly -2.7%. In Japan, Nikkei 225 extended its losses into the fourth trading day dipping by -1.7% extending the weekly losses to -2.5%. In South Korea (KOSPI) fell by -1.4% while in India the SENSEX retracted by -0.7%.