Tadawul Review:

Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) ended Wednesday's session ‎down for the second consecutive session by -19 points (-‎‎0.2%), to close at 10,664 levels. TASI opened the session at a ‎level lower than the previous close, down by 9 points, and ‎TASI continued to decline at the beginning of the first trading ‎hour and then rose to record its intraday high, achieving +31 ‎points, from which TASI started to gradually decline to ‎complete the rest of the session within the range of 69 ‎points. In general, 8 out of 20 sectors closed in the red zone, ‎while 137 stocks rose and 65 fell. Banks (-1.1%), Diversified ‎Financials (-1.8%), and Utilities (-0.1%) sectors were the ‎major drags on the index. Stocks-wise, Saudi National Bank ‎‎(-2.2%), Alinma Bank (-4.1%), and Al Rajhi Bank (-0.6%) ‎pulled the index down the most. The trading activity ‎witnessed decline in volume and value by 25% and 10%, ‎respectively, to reach 128mn shares and SAR3.9bn.‎

 

 

 

Market Wrap International:

The global equity indices traded in both directions with ‎investors keeping an eye on the Dec-end results and economic ‎data. In the U.S the benchmark S&P 500 and ‎Nasdaq Composite fell by 1.6% and 1.2% on weaker than ‎expected retail sales data, raising concerns of recession ‎though PPI data came in better than expected‏.‏

In Europe, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose for ‎the sixth straight session and closed +‎‏0.2‏‎% on Wednesday. The ‎inflation data in the U.K showed further drop in price ‎pressure. The country level indices too moved in tandem and ‎closed +0.1-0.3%.‎

In Asia, BoJ’s latest statement was in the limelight where the ‎central bank has avoided effectively raising the interest rate by ‎leaving the trading band for the 10-year government bond ‎unchanged. Indices in Japan were up +‎‏1.7‏‎-‎‏2.5‏‎%. Equity indices ‎in China were steady (+0.2%). KOSPI in Korea closed down by ‎‎0.5% due to a negative earnings surprise in the index ‎heavyweight for the Dec-end result. ‎