Tadawul Review:

Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) declined on Wednesday for ‎the fourth day in a row and fell -159 points (-1.6%) to close ‎at 10,049 levels, which is the lowest closing level since ‎‎02/28/2023 (12 trading sessions). TASI had opened the ‎session positively, up 26 points from the previous closing ‎level, and continued to rise until the middle of the session; ‎however, TASI started to decline after that, losing -216 ‎points from its intraday high and closing at its intraday low of ‎‎-159 points. In general, 16 out of 20 sectors closed in the red ‎zone, while 44 stocks rose and 173 fell. Banks (-1.7%), ‎Materials (-1.5%), and Energy (-2.7%) sectors were the major ‎drags on the index and contributed a total loss of -103 points. ‎Stocks-wise, Al Rajhi Bank (-1.4%), Saudi National Bank (-‎‎2.7%), and SABIC (-2.6%) pulled the index down the most. ‎The trading activity witnessed an increase in volume and ‎value by 35% and 21%, respectively, to reach 198mn shares ‎and SAR5.4bn. Oil prices and volatility in international ‎markets remained major drivers of the TASI. Possibility of the ‎index retesting its psychological levels of 10k remains high. ‎

 

 

Market Wrap International:

The global equity markets were once again in the grip of fears ‎of contagion in the financial sector spreading to other regions ‎following the collapse of banks in the U.S. The European ‎financial names were in the limelight following a steep drop in ‎prices of Credit Suisse (CS), a global investment bank. A ‎significant drop in oil price of 2.4-4.9% and the plunge in the ‎treasury yields also added to the drama. Meanwhile, the latest ‎economic data in the U.S offered much-needed relief but to ‎no avail. The benchmark S&P 500 Index fell 0.7%. The ‎Producer Price Index (PPI) unexpectedly drop for the month, ‎though the revision in the previous month’s data put a ‎question mark on the quality of the surprise.‎

European financials were the epicenter of volatility on the ‎Wednesday as the statement from the largest shareholder in ‎CS raised doubts on bank’s ability to attract fresh capital. CS’ ‎stock price fell following the statement, and pressured the ‎whole banking system in the region. Financials went down by ‎‎6.6% and along with energy (-5.8%) dragged the benchmark ‎Stoxx Europe 600 Index by 2.9%. Country level indices faced ‎the similar fate and were down by 3.3-3.8%.‎

Asia’s major indices was broadly cushioned by the volatility ‎seen in other regions partially due to strong economic data ‎‎(retail sales, industrial output) in China. Hang Seng (+1.7%), ‎Shanghai Composite (0.6%), KOSPI (+1.3%) were the major ‎gainers in the region while other indices moved within a range ‎of -0.6% to +0.6%.‎