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Sunday, 2 December 2018

Good November for Emerging Markets

It was a good November for emerging markets: The MSCIEmerging Markets stock index closed the month with a gain of 4.1% amid speculation that the US Federal Reserve could raise interest rates in 2019 at a slower pace than expected, according to Bloomberg.

Morgan Stanley likes Egypt as it sees EM bonds kicking off 2019 with “above-average returns”: “Emerging-market bonds should return to winning form next year after a rough 2018 with a couple of caveats — the trade war doesn’t worsen and a pause in Federal Reserve tightening puts a lid on the USD,” Michael Kushma, chief investment officer for global fixed income at Morgan Stanley, told Bloomberg in an interview. “Egypt is a country we like,” he adds. “They’re trying to disinflate their economy, trying to keep the exchange rate strong. It may depreciate but not as much as the forwards. It’s not a high-profile country that is caught up in a lot of geopolitical noise right now.”

In miscellany this morning:

80% of new customer acquisitions at this bank are through brick and mortar branches: Physical branches are making a comeback at Canada’s TD Bank, which has found that 80% of all new customer acquisitions still comes through branches. “It’s not branches or digital, it’s both,” TD’s head of retail banking tells the Globe & Mail, noting that the new branches she is opening are more conversation-centric than designed to quickly speed through transactions.

Morocco is said to be the frontrunner to host the 2019 African Cup of Nationsafter the Confederation of African Football pulled the plug on Cameroon’s hosting rights amid reports of preparation delays and security issues, CAF said in a statement. Egypt’s next qualifier is against Niger in March.

Neil deGrasse Tyson, one of our favorite public intellectuals, is being investigated by Fox and National Geographic amid accusations the astrophysicist engaged in [redacted] misconduct, Axios says.

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