Tadawul Review: 

Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) closed on the second trading ‎day after Eid holidays and managed to close with modest ‎gains of 42 points (+0.4%). Today, telecommunications stocks ‎led the market higher, and Al Rajhi Bank contributed the ‎most to the index gain. The index witnessed an initial decline ‎at the beginning of the session before it started to rise and ‎close at 11307 levels. In general 18 out of 20 sectors closed in ‎the green zone, while 167 stocks rose and 42 fell. ‎Telecommunications (+1.3 %), Materials (+0.4%), and Health ‎care equipment and services (+1.8%) sectors contributed the ‎most to the index's rise of +19 points. Stock-wise, Al Rajhi ‎Bank (+1.3%), Etihad Etisalat (+2.8%), Saudi Telecom ‎‎(+0.9%) contributed most to the rise of the index. The ‎trading activity witnessed an increase in volume and value by ‎‎15% and 9%. respectively, to reach 246mn shares and ‎SAR6.9bn. TASI has defied the negative volatility in ‎international markets in recent sessions. Overall, the index ‎gained ‎‏0.6‏‎% month-to-date. Recent performance, low oil ‎prices and volatility in international benchmarks may force ‎the index to partially pare its recent gains.  ‎

 

 

 

Market Wrap International:

The global equity markets remained volatile for the second straight ‎session as concerns on the renewed stress in the banking systems in ‎the U.S and Europe outweighed any positive impact from ongoing ‎earnings season. The focus is once again shifting to economic data ‎and the upcoming FOMC meeting. The stock price of a troubled ‎mid-sized bank in the U.S, First Republic Bank, sank to a record ‎amid reports of the government's unwillingness to support the bank ‎with public funds. The sovereign yields in the U.S bounced back ‎while energy prices further softened. The S&P 500 Index fell by 0.4% ‎and Nasdaq Composite rose by 0.5%. All but one sector on the S&P ‎‎500 closed in red. Strong results in tech names sustained the ‎momentum for the second straight session.‎

In Europe, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell for the third ‎session in a row and was down 0.8% on Wednesday. The concerns ‎on recession, stress in the financial sector and soft commodity ‎prices have weighed on the index’ performance. The country level ‎indices too failed to find any footing and were down 0.5-0.9%.‎

 

In Asia, the sell-off seemed to have lost steam as major indices ‎moved in a narrow range of -0.02 to +0.3%. The fears of slow ‎economic growth in the developed economies have triggered paring ‎of most of the gains in key indices. Hang Seng in Hong Kong was a ‎sole outlier in the region with +0.7% return.  ‎‎