Tadawul Review:

Tadawul All Share Index (TASI), managed to reverse course on Wednesday, posting gains of 140 points (1%) to close at 13,644 levels. The index started trading flat, but gradually climbed up throughout the day to increase by 173 points before profit-taking kicked in. The index rally was led by heavyweight sectors namely Materials (2.0%), Energy (+2.3%), and Banks (0.3%) which contributed 42, 23, and 16 points to the overall increase. Amongst the stocks, major contributions came from SABIC, ARAMCO, and SNB which rose by 4.2%, 2.3%, and 3.0% respectively. The trading activity once again declined (-5.6) to record 150 mn shares while the value traded also dropped by 3.1%. The market may continue its positive momentum as crude oil pared losses after Germany’s comment to support the EU ban on Russian crude if its’s gradual.

Market Wrap International:

The S&P500 crept up on Wednesday, closing +0.2% higher at 4,184 level, led by advances in energy and commodities companies. The Dow Jones Industrials rose by a similar amount closing at 33,302, while the Nasdaq100 was down slightly (-0.05%), closing at 13,003. Thanks to numerous favorable firm earnings reports issued after the market closed, the session was more upbeat than the data showed. After the firm reported adding more Facebook users than planned, Meta Platforms (FB), the renamed Facebook, soared as high as +16% in after-market trade. During the first quarter, the firm recorded a total of 1.96 billion daily users, which was more than the 1.94 billion projected, resuming growth after their first ever dip in the December quarter.

European stocks rose on Wednesday, bouncing off six-week lows, as investors weighed the economic consequences of Russia's gas supply curbs, while China's "all-out" stimulus vows and a slew of corporate results reports boosted risk appetite. The Stoxx 600 Europe Index finished +0.7% higher. The seesaw was triggered by Russia's decision to cut off gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria, a move European authorities said they were "prepared" for while reassuring that there is enough fuel in store to last for the next few weeks. After posting a larger-than-expected quarterly loss and parting ways with three senior executives, Credit Suisse Group AG hit a new low.

Asian stock markets remained mixed on Wednesday with the Chinese markets recovering while the rest recorded losses ahead of earnings week. The SHCOMP, after a dreadful last session, managed to post recovery of +2.5% on the back of Chinese infrastructure shares which rallied after the country’s central committee decided to support construction projects. The Hang Seng managed to close flat paring losses made during mid-day. On the other hand, other major Asian markets closed red with Nikkei 225, KOSPI, and SENSEX recording losses of -1.2%, -1.1%, and -0.9% respectively.