Four Fed rate hikes in 2022?
The US Federal Reserve could start raising interest rates in March: Fed Governor Lael Brainard is the latest official to signal that the Fed is leaning toward a March “lift-off” on planned rate hikes. At a congressional hearing to confirm her nomination for another term as Fed vice chair, Brainard said the Fed could hike rates as soon as it finishes unwinding its asset-purchasing stimulus, opening the door to a rate rise at the central bank’s mid-March meeting.
Four rate hikes this year? A number of Fed officials last week came out to back a March rate increase and as many as four rate hikes this year. The increased sense of urgency comes after data showed that US inflation was at its highest in forty years in December. The Fed plans to taper its bond-buying program in February — twice as fast as originally expected — ahead of a planned three rate hikes in 2022, followed by another three next year, and two in 2024.
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EGX30 |
12,012 |
-0.4% (YTD: +0.5%) |
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USD (CBE) |
Buy 15.66 |
Sell 15.76 |
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USD at CIB |
Buy 15.66 |
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Interest rates CBE |
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THE CLOSING BELL-
The EGX30 fell 0.4% on Thursday on turnover of EGP 807 mn (32.8% below the 90-day average). Local investors were net buyers. The index is up 0.5% YTD.
In the green: Cleopatra Hospital (+2.8%), MM Group (+2.0%) and Egypt Kuwait Holding (+1.0%).
In the red: Madinet Nasr Housing (-4.2%), Speed Medical (-3.2%) and Egyptian Resorts Company (-2.9%).