Tadawul Review:

Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) ended its losing streak on ‎Thursday, rising +18 points (+0.2%) and closing at 10,682 ‎levels. TASI opened the session negatively, down by -55 ‎points, but TASI began building positive momentum from the ‎first hour of trading to compensate for the losses it incurred ‎at the opening level, and closing the session at its intraday ‎high. In general, 13 sectors out of 20 closed in the green zone, ‎while 95 stocks rose and 108 fell. Banks (+0.3%), Food and ‎beverages (+0.9%), and Telecom (+0.5%) sectors contributed ‎the most to the index's rise. Stock-wise, Al Rajhi Bank ‎‎(+0.3%), Bank AlBilad (+1.5%), and Arab National Bank ‎‎(+2.1%) contributed most to the rise of the index. The ‎trading activity witnessed a decline in the volume and value ‎of trading by 21% and 12%, respectively, to reach 101mn ‎shares and SAR3.5bn. TASI is likely to maintain its current ‎range-bound pattern though the direction is likely to be ‎positive with the lift provided by strong oil prices in the ‎international market and acceleration in Dec-end result ‎season. ‎

 

 

 

Market Wrap International:

The global equity markets moved higher on Friday amid ‎optimism over Dec-end results and China economic re-‎opening theme. In the U.S, the markets had to digest a not-‎so-healthy retail sales data in the previous session and the ‎uptick in the yields. The positive start of earnings in tech ‎space and newsflow over corporate restructuring set off a rally ‎in tech names in the U.S. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ‎jumped ‎‏2.7‏‎% on Friday, erasing most of the losses for the ‎week. The S&P 500 Index also rose by ‎‏1.9‏‎%.‎

In Europe, optimism over earnings season overshadowed ‎concerns on inflation and further interest rate hikes. The ‎Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose ‎‏0.4‏‎% on Friday led by Travel, ‎leisure and retail sectors. The country level indices were also ‎positive in the range of 0.3-0.‎‏8‏‎%.‎

In Asia, major markets sustained the rally on Friday ahead of ‎extended Chinese New Year holidays next week. With major ‎COVID-19 restrictions already eased/withdrawn ahead of the ‎start of the new Chinese year, markets are keeping a close ‎eye on normalization of economic activity in China. HangSeng ‎was a major outperformer in the region and jumped 1.8%. ‎Other major markets were up 0.‎‏6‏‎-0.8%, barring SENSEX in ‎India which closed negative by 0.‎‏4‏‎%.    ‎‎