Tadawul Review:

Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) partially recovered the losses suffered in the last session on Monday with a gain of 80 points (+0.6% DoD) to close at 13,543. The index maintained its negative momentum at the start of the trading and made an intraday low of -85points. The index struggled to find its footing initially and made a sustained recovery in the latter part of the day. Banks (+2.4%) Utilities (+1.7%) and Media (+4.0%) were the major drivers of the index rally while Materials (-2.4%) and Energy (-0.3%) turned out to be major drags. The latest updates on COVID-19 in China and fears of a slowdown in global commodity demand dented investors' sentiments. A 5% drop in international oil prices too contributed to the drag in Materials. The trading activity improved significantly and jumped 46% DoD, although the Advance to Decline Ratio of 1:2.5 highlights a narrow base of index recovery. The index is likely to continue showing sideways moves in the near term.

Market Wrap International:

Following two days of steep losses at the end of last week, US stock markets ended the week higher on Monday. The S&P500 rose 24 points to 4,296., up 0.6%, while the Nasdaq100 rose +1.3% to 13,533. The S&P500 momentarily touched a bottom of 4200 shortly after lunch, before buyers pushed prices higher for the rest of the trading session. The strongest industries were communications and information technology, while the energy industry fell by nearly 3%. Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter (TWTR) was successful overnight, with the board accepting a USD44 billion bid, making it one of the most leveraged buyout deals in history. Shareholders will receive US$54.20 per share, a little more than double the company's November 2013 IPO price of US$26 per share.

Concerns over a more aggressive Federal Reserve and the spread of Covid in China outweighed joy over French President Emmanuel Macron's election victory, sending European equities to their lowest level in six weeks. By the closing in London, the Stoxx 600 Europe Index was down -1.8%, to its lowest level since March 15. The reductions were led by miners and energy, as iron ore and oil prices fell due to a weakening demand outlook. Stocks in the utilities and personal care industries outperformed.

Asian markets slumped on Monday as the COVID situation in China worsened and the upcoming expected Fed rate hike played on investors' minds. Fears of a wider lockdown impacted equities in mainland China and Hong Kong the most with SHCOMP recording a drastic -5.1% decline while Hang Seng dropped by -3.7%. Similarly, in Japan, Nikkei 225 slid by -1.9% on rate hike concerns. The Korean index, KOSPI slipped by -1.8%, alongside SENSEX in India, which lost -1.1%.