SAUDI AND EGYPT GAIN AMID PRESSURED WORLD EQUITY

Saudi Arabia's stock market rose on Sunday as it reopened after a week of public holidays to celebrate Eid and was buoyed by a rise in oil prices nearly 1.5% on Friday, and ended higher on the week, as impending European Union sanctions on Russian oil raised the prospect of tighter supply and had traders shrugging off worries about global economic growth. Saudi Arabia's benchmark index (.TASI) finished 0.6% higher, with Al Rajhi Bank (1120.SE) gaining 1.8% and oil behemoth Saudi Aramco (2222.SE) gaining 2.1%.Saudi Arabia's minister of industry and mineral resources said the ministry has a goal to attract investments worth $32 billion to its mining and minerals sector through nine new projects, state news agency SPA reported. Dr Sulaiman Al-Habib Medical Services (4013.SE), however, declined 0.9%, as the stock traded ex-dividend.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index (.EGX30) rose 0.6%, extending gains from the previous session when it jumped more than 3%.Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ordered the government to set a programme for the private sector's participation in state-owned assets, with a target of $10 billion annually for four years, private television channel Extra News reported on Tuesday. However, Egypt's economy remains exposed to the tensions in Europe.

US stocks closed lower for a second consecutive session on Friday. On the earnings front, Under Armour slumped after disappointing guidance from the apparel company. Live Nation Entertainment also declined after it missed Wall Street estimates for the first-quarter revenues. The Dow fell less than 100 points, bouncing off an over 450-point loss earlier; the S&P 500 closed 0.6% lower and the Nasdaq declined 1.4%. All three major indexes posted their fifth straight weekly loss, the longest losing streak since June 2011 for the S&P and the longest since November 2012 for the Nasdaq.

Europe’s major stock indices closed sharply lower on Friday, as the selloff intensified also on Wall Street, with both the German DAX and the pan-European Stoxx 600 down 1.6% each to 8-week lows. Most sectors ended in negative territory, with losses led by retail stocks, while oil & gas companies bucked the trend with a 0.7% gain. On the earnings season, profits from ING disappointed, while Adidas operating profits beat estimates as the sportswear company now sees full-year revenues at the lower end of the outlook range. On a weekly basis, the DAX shed 3.4%, while the Stoxx 600 dropped 4.3%.

The FTSE 100 tumbled 1.8% to 7,371 on Friday, the lowest since March 16th amid a bearish mood in global markets, pressured by stagflation fears and tightening monetary policy, while the earnings season went on. British Airways owner IAG slumped almost 8% as the company reported a worse-than-expected operating loss of €787 million in the first quarter of 2022, but it sees a return to profits in the June quarter as it intends to increase schedules to 80% of pre-pandemic levels. On a weekly basis, the index is set for an over 2% drop. For the week, the London's index was down 1.8%.

The CAC 40 closed 1.7% or 110 points lower at 6,258 on Friday, extending declines for the third consecutive session. Domestically, strong downward pressure came from luxury stocks Kering (-2.8%), Louis Vuitton (-2.1%), and Hermes (-3.2%), as well as technology shares Capgemini (-3.0%), and Dassault Systemes (-4.8%). On the earnings front, AXA lost 1.5% after it recorded a 2% increase in first-quarter revenues and leaving its 2023 outlook unchanged. On the week, the index shed 4.6%.

The FTSE MIB index closed 1.2% down at 23,476 on Friday, ending the week 3.2% lower Financial shares were among the biggest losers, with Italy’s largest bank Intesa Sanpaolo dropping 2.3% after it cut its profit guidance due to exposure to Russia. UniCredit fell 4%, also hampered by Russian exposure.

The BSE Sensex ended 866.65 points or 1.56 % lower to close at 54,835.58 on Friday, tracking global markets as investors evaluated the need for a higher rate hike to tame inflation and at the same time feared a possible recession. Unabated foreign fund outflows and firm crude oil prices also weighed on sentiment. Banks and technology led the losses with 24 out of 30 stocks ending in the red. Among the individual stocks, major draggers included Bajaj Finance (-4.91%), Axis Bank (-4.11%), Bajaj Financial Services (-3.49%), Nestle India (-3.34%), Wipro (-3.12%) and Housing Development Finance Corporation (-2.84%). On the week, the BSE booked a 3.9% loss.

The Shanghai Composite fell 2.16% to 3,002 while the Shenzhen Component lost 2.14% to 10,810 on Friday, snapping days of strong gains, after China’s top decision-making body warned against criticism of its controversial “dynamic zero-Covid” policy. All sectors in the mainland fell, with heavyweight technology, materials and consumer stocks leading the decline. Sharp losses were seen from Hangzhou Hikvision (-9%), East Money (-3.9%), CNOOC Ltd (-3.2%), Zijin Mining (-7.1%), Kweichow Moutai (-2.4%) and China Tourism (-8.9%). The benchmark indexes fell for the fifth straight week.