Yet another Gulf IPO? Saudi Aramco subsidiary Luberef is looking to make its Tadawul debut in an IPO that could raise over USD 1 bn, Bloomberg reports citing people familiar with the matter. The company reportedly plans to sell a 30% stake currently owned by Jadwa Investment and has tapped the local unit of HSBC and SNB Capital to advise on the move. Surging oil prices are helping the Gulf lead an IPO boom in the MENA region, helping it to surpass the European IPO market for only the second time since the global financial crisis (the other time being 2019, when Aramco made its whopper USD 30 bn debut).

The British government jumps on the NFT bandwagon: The UK’s state-owned coin producer Royal Mint will create and issue its own NFT by the summer, according to a statement. “This is part of our plan to ensure the UK financial services industry is always at the forefront of technology and innovation,” Chancellor Rishi Sunak said. The country is also looking to recognize stablecoins — cryptocurrencies backed (and priced) against the value of existing currencies or commodities — as a valid form of payment, as it looks to position itself as a global crypto hub.

In other financial news:

• The London Metal Exchange is facing a probe into its handling of the nickel market last month, when it was forced to suspend trading twice due to historic price swings triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
• JPMorgan could lose USD 1 bn “over time” due to its direct exposure to Russia, and is also concerned about secondary impacts from sanctions and Russian moves in response, bank CEO said in his annual letter to shareholders.

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 fell 0.3% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 907.64 mn (7% below the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is down 3.5% YTD.

In the green: Medinet Nasr Housing (+6.14%), MM Group (+5.24%) and Palm Hills (+4.1%).

In the red: EFG Hermes (-2.6%), Fawry (-2.2%) and AMOC (-2.0%).

Asian markets are largely up in early trading this morning, while futures suggest Wall Street will open in the red. The UK’s FTSE 100 index and the Euro Stoxx 500 also look set to drop on open, even as most European indexes were up ahead of the day’s trading.