Earnings season continues in the US of A:

• Morgan Stanley has its best year ever in 2020 after profits grew by 42% more than forecasts had suggested 4Q2020, off the back of high trading volumes in the last quarter, according to an earnings release (pdf).
• Our newfound germophobia was good news for P&G, which raised its sales forecast for the second time in a year and reported an 8% rise in sales in 4Q off the back of covid-driven demand for cleaning products, Reuters reports.

The Bahraini government closed a USD 2 bn three-tranche bond sale as the pandemic and low oil prices continue to weigh on its fiscal deficit and pushed its debt dues to USD 40 bn, reports Reuters.

A global shipping container shortage has sent prices skyrocketing to more than three times their price just two months ago, the FT reports. The sudden increase has been attributed to a supply chain “bottleneck” as a sharp rebound in western demand for Asian goods has left companies battling for access to containers and shipping lines, said SeaIntelligence consultant Lars Jensen.

The EGX30 rose 1% yesterday on turnover of EGP 1.7 bn (20.8% above the 90-day average). Local investors were net buyers. The index is up 6.9% YTD.

In the green: Pioneers Holding (+8.5%), Egyptian Iron & Steel (+7.5%) and Beltone Financial Holding (+6.9%).

In the red: Ezz Steel (-0.8%), Egypt Kuwait Holding (-0.7%) and CIRA (-0.6%).

It’s a sea of green this morning: Asian shares are up and futures suggest a nice bounce for investors in day two of the Biden administration, with shares in Europe and North America on track to open in the green later today.