The crystal balls continue to predict a rocky earnings season ahead: The crisis in Ukraine and rising inflation is forecast to weigh on the earnings growth of major US corporations in their 1Q results, the Financial Times reports. Analysts expect earnings-per-share growth among S&P 500 companies to fall to 5.2% this quarter from 32% in 4Q 2021, marking the weakest growth since the final quarter of 2020.

Privately held tech firms aren’t immune from the growth-stock rout: The selloff in public tech firms has made its way to private companies, marking a steep turn of sentiment as investors grow cautious after a bumper year for VC funding globally, the Financial Times reports. One platform for private share trading said prices fell by as much as 20% in February and March compared to Q4 2021. The drop-off coincides with a long slide for the tech-heavy Nasdaq index of publicly traded companies (which has lost around 15% YTD) as well as a fall in global dealmaking amid inflationary pressures and the war in Ukraine. But some insist on seeing the bright side, telling the pink paper that the fall in valuations could trigger dip-buying in private firms.

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose 0.3% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 645 mn (32% below the 90-day average). Regional investors were net buyers. The index is down 10.4% YTD.

In the green: Egypt Kuwait Holding-EGP (+5.2%), GB Auto (+3.7%) and Oriental Weavers (+2.0%).

In the red: MM Group (-16.7%), Ibnsina Pharma (-5.5%) and Qalaa Holdings (-4.7%).

Markets in Australia, Hong Kong, the UK, and much of Europe are off today for a holiday. Those Asian markets that are open are largely down in early trading, while futures suggest Wall Street looks set to start in the red later today.