State oil giant Saudi Aramco said Sunday its 2021 net profit more than doubled to $110 billion, a boon to the Middle East's largest economy as it seeks to use its hefty profits for investment opportunities domestically and abroad. The world's largest oil exporter is benefiting from rapidly rising oil prices and said it raised its spending target this year as demand surges and the impacts from the pandemic recede. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, surged to an average of $70.86 a barrel last year after falling to an average of $41.96 a year earlier. It settled Friday at $107.93 a barrel, down 4.2% for the week. Early this month, oil at times traded above $130 a barrel. Aramco's income jumped 124% in 2021 from $49 billion a year earlier, due to higher crude oil prices, stronger refining and chemicals margins and the consolidation of the full-year result of its chemicals business, known as Sabic, the company said. It is the highest net income Aramco has posted since it started trading its shares on the domestic stock exchange. Aramco shares jumped earlier in the day to 43.85 Saudi riyals a share, valuing the company at $2.34 trillion. The Saudi government, with a stake of more than 94% in Aramco, has sought to monetize the country's massive oil assets and use the proceeds to invest in industries outside of oil as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's plan to restructure the economy by 2030.

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The SMI gained 1 per cent to 12,185 points on Friday. Support came from analysts at Bank of America, who upgraded the domestic stock market to "Overweight" from the previous "Marketweight". Among the 20 SMI stocks, there were 17 gainers and three losers. 107.69 (previously: 48.81) million shares were traded. The market was driven by gains in the defensive heavyweights Nestle (1.8%), Roche (+1.9%) and Novartis (+0.2%). Swatch (+2.1%) and Richemont (+2%) continued their recent run. Among the second-line stocks, Interroll fell 9.3 per cent - despite several records in key ratios. However, the margin development of the logistics technology company was criticised. The business figures of the biotechnology company Bachem (-9.2%) were also not convincing. Lindt & Sprüngli (+2%) announced changes in the group management and the board of directors.

European equity indices gained ground on Friday, ending a week of strong rebound despite the lack of concrete progress in negotiations between Ukraine and Russia to end the war. The Stoxx Europe 600 index closed up 0.9% at 454.6 points, taking its gain for the week to 5.4%. In Paris, the CAC 40 and the SBF 120 added 0.1% and 0.2% respectively on Friday. The CAC 40 increased by 5.8% while in Frankfurt, the DAX 40 rose by 0.2%. In London, the FTSE 100 climbed 0.3%. The pharmaceutical group Sanofi (-1.8%) announced on Friday the launch of the project to list Euroapi, its entity dedicated to the production and marketing of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) to third parties, on Euronext Paris. The French Competition Authority indicated on Friday that it had begun an in-depth examination of the proposed merger between the audiovisual groups TF1 (-2.7%) and M6 (-2%). The Authority's final decision is still expected in autumn 2022. Wendel (+0.3%) reported a net asset value (NAV) of EUR 188.10 per share at 31 December 2021, up 18.3% over one year. At this level, this indicator is close to its all-time high of EUR 189.10 per share, reached in June 2021, notes Invest Securities. EDF (+1.7%) unveiled the terms and timing of a capital increase of more than 3.1 billion euros, of which just under 84% will be subscribed by the state. In London, IAG (-0.2%) signed an agreement with Air Europa's owner conglomerate, Globalia Corporacion Empresarial, to provide a €100m unsecured loan over seven years in exchange for a potential 20% stake in the Spanish airline.

Major U.S. stock indexes notched their best week since November 2020 as oil prices stayed below recent highs and investors embraced signs of confidence in the U.S. economy from the Federal Reserve. The gains returned the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite to positive territory for March, despite the elevated commodity prices and geopolitical anxieties that have weighed on stocks recently. The S&P 500 ended Friday with a gain of 6.2% for the week, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 5.5% in that time. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 8.2%. Big tech stocks clawed back some of their recent losses to help pull the market higher. Shares of Meta Platforms advanced 15% for the week, while Amazon.com gained 11% and Microsoft rose 7.3%. Shares of fast-growing companies, including many technology names, have suffered lately as the central bank’s plans to raise interest rates threaten the value of their future earnings. The S&P 500 on Friday rose 51.45 points, or 1.2%, to 4463.12. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 274.17 points, or 0.8%, to 34754.93. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 279.06 points, or 2%, to 13893.84. A pause in the recent climb in oil prices eased pressure on stocks. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, settled Friday at $107.93 a barrel, down 4.2% for the week. Early last week oil at times traded above $130 a barrel. In economic news, U.S. existing-home sales fell 7.2% in February, the National Association of Realtors said Friday, while February sales fell 2.4% from a year earlier. The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage recently topped 4% for the first time since 2019. Among individual stocks, FedEx fell $9.07, or 4%, to $218.91 Friday after it reported lower shipping volumes and said profit margins were coming under pressure.

In Asia, major indexes broadly closed slightly lower. The stock exchange in Japan is closed on Monday for a holiday. On the Chinese stock exchanges, the recent Corona pandemic wave, due to which new lockdowns were ordered in numerous cities in the country, is slowing the buying mood. The composite index in Shanghai is 0.7 per cent lower. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index initially gave up significant gains and is now also down 1 per cent. Technology stocks are losing ground. Among the individual stocks, Tencent fell by 2 per cent. Alibaba reduced its gain from over 6 per cent at times to 0.6 per cent.

Long-dated U.S. government debt yields were mixed Friday, but posted their biggest two-week gains in years, as investors monitored developments in the Russia-Ukraine war and continued to digest the Federal Reserve’s efforts to hike rates through 2023. Meanwhile, the widely followed spread between 2- and 10-year yields dipped below 19 basis points, one of the lowest levels since March 2020. The yield on the ten-year Treasury bond eased by 4 basis points to 2.148%, from 2.177% on Thursday evening. The two-year bond ended almost flat at 1.938%.

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