The EGX30 was flat yesterday on turnover of EGP 1.7 bn. Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is down 21.1% YTD.

In the green: Sodic (+4.2%), Eastern Company (+4.2%) and Orascom Development Egypt (+1.8%).

In the red: Egyptian Iron & Steel (-3.5%), Export Development Bank (-3.1%) and GB Auto (-2.8%).

It’s a sea of red out there this morning, ladies and gentlemen: Asian shares are largely (if not deeply) in the red this morning, and futures suggest Wall Street and most of Europe will follow suit later today.

Middle East governments could face something of a reckoning in the months and years ahead as low oil prices and spiraling debt heap pressure on public finances, Fitch Ratings said in a note this week. Despite expectations for an economic rebound in 2021, “balance sheets will continue to deteriorate” and the “painful fiscal adjustments” needed to rescue the situation, coupled with the economic effects of the pandemic, could provoke social and political unrest. The ratings agency, which currently has five of 15 MENA sovereigns on a negative outlook, said that even in the higher-rated GCC states, the consequences of covid will “raise questions” about the sustainability of their social and economic models.

Kuwait is a case in point: The ruling Al Sabah clan could be on a collision course with the newly-elected parliament over how the country pulls itself out of its fiscal hole, the Financial Times suggests.

Egypt is still good, though: The ratings agency earlier this year affirmed Egypt’s long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating at ‘B+’ with a ‘stable’ outlook.