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Sunday, 29 May 2016

Prospect of Fed raising rates, approach of Ramadan bode poorly for MENA markets

The U.S. Federal Reserve meets 14-15 June, and Fed chief Janet Yellen is suggesting a rate hike could come either at that meeting or at the 26-27 July meeting that follows it. The Fed boss said on Friday: “It’s appropriate … for the Fed to gradually and cautiously increase our overnight interest rate over time, and probably in the coming months such a move would be appropriate,” according to Reuters.

The prospect of a rate hike could spook emerging markets: An 11-week run of net inflows into emerging markets broke on 11 May as speculation began to mount that the Fed would hike rates. EFG Hermes Research estimates that “every USD 1 bn in EM passive outflows would imply outflows of c.USD 20 mn MENA MSCI EM stocks and c. USD 14 mn from FTSE EM members (only UAE & Egypt).” All of this, of course, comes in the run-up to Ramadan and the summer slowdown, suggesting it we may be in for a few months of tough sledding.

Emerging markets may be better positioned to absorb a rate hike now than in December 2015, when the first hike since 2006 and fragility in EM sent markets tumbling, according to BlackRock Emerging Markets Crossover Team chief Amer Bisat. Bisat says China’s recovery is better “anchored” now than it was at the end of 2015 and commodities prices have stabilized, if not improved, suggesting EM may be “better positioned” to handle a rate increase this time around. (Watch on Yahoo Finance, run time 3:33).

But Morgan Stanley is perhaps more bearish than ever, as we first noted last week. Enter Morgan Stanley Global Head of Emerging Markets Fixed Income Strategy Gordian Kemen, who says the fed’s rate hike comes at exactly the wrong time for EM: China’s growth outlook for 2H2016 is grim, and oil is the only commodity that’s really experienced much of a rally, he counters. (Watch on Bloomberg Markets, run time: 3:11)

Against that backdrop: The Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee will meet on 16 June and 28 July, in each instance once day after the Fed makes its decision on interest rates.

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