Our popular My Morning Routine section is back today after going on hiatus over the Christmas-New Year vacation period. This morning: The person whose business has seen a number of us (happily) eating less meat. Not that any of us have gone vegan, but…

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry is in Jordan for a ministerial consultative meeting today. Shoukry arrived yesterday and held talks on regional affairs with King Abdullah II.

In a “sharp about-turn,” the Fed left interest rates unchanged: The US Federal Reserve kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged overnight at a range of 2.25-2.5% after its two-day FOMC meeting ended, the Fed said in a statement (pdf). The move was widely expected after the Fed telegraphed that the pace of hikes could slow this year amid concerns about the outlook for growth in the US and beyond. “In light of global economic and financial developments and muted inflation pressures, the Committee will be patient,” the statement said.

The story leads the global business press this morning. The best coverage so far is from the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal (news | analysis). The New York Times is also worth a read.

So what’s next? After the turmoil in financial markets we saw late last year, the US Federal Reserve’s main mission now is to steady the ship, the FT writes. Yesterday’s decision signals that Powell is making good on his pledge to “listen carefully” to market concerns. This was the view shared by economists polled by Bloomberg, predicting two rate hikes this year, with a majority believing the Fed will act between June and December (instead of March and September as predicted in last month’s survey).

Are EM fears of a stronger USD a thing of the past? Stronger emerging economies such as India, Russia and Chile look to be safer EM investment destinations going forward,as worries about slumping global growth replace the greenback and rising US interest rates as the chief threats to EMs, according to Amundi Asset Management, Bloomberg reports. The investment fund also highlighted China, Indonesia, the Czech Republic, Brazil and Peru as attractive markets because of their high-yielding currencies, solid earnings growth and sustainable debt levels. The fund (which manages USD 45 bn in EM assets) meanwhile flagged Turkey, South Africa and Argentina as posing particular risks going forward due to their poor fiscal positions.

Sales of international bonds from emerging markets and junk-rated companies were down by as much as 43% year-on-year in January. “Debt sales by governments and companies in emerging markets fell to USD 49.1 bn in the period to Jan. 25, compared to USD 86.2 bn over the same period in 2018, data from Refinitiv showed. The number of deals declined to 69 from 125,” Reuters reports

Why that matters: January is usually one of the busiest months of the year for EM sovereign issuers, according to Morgan Stanley, accounting for about 17% of annual debt sales.

Has there ever been a better time to be an M&A banker in the GCC? Bloomberg thinks not as it runs down who’s buying what amid a mergers and acquisition boom in the Mideast — a boom that has so far shown no signs of crossing the Red Sea to Egypt.

High drama in high tech: The Fed’s decision not to hike rates yesterday may be the lead story in the global business press, but far more ink is being spilled on the problems of the tech industry. Here’s a sampling:

• Facebook and Apple are openly clashing in a “dramatic escalation of tension between two of the world’s biggest tech companies.” (FT | The Verge)
• Samsung’s profits are down nearly 30% on weak phone and chip sales. (CNBC)
• Microsoft missed revenue forecasts as the PC market appears to be slowing down. (CNBC)
• The FT’s Lex says it is crunch time for Apple, which faces new urgency to push into services. (FT)
• A former Apple employee has been arrested for allegedly stealing self-driving car technology for China. (Apple Insider)

WEEKEND READS- The UAE allegedly hired a “secret hacking team of American mercenaries” including former intelligence operatives, Reuters reports in a two-part investigative series (here and here). And if you, like us, have struggled to get your brain around China’s “road and belt” global infrastructure drive, the best starting point we can think of is Can China turn the middle of nowhere into the center of the world economy? in the New York Times Magazine.