What the markets are doing on 10 February 2021
Cookie jar, meet hand: Saudi Arabia’s central bank is about to undergo its biggest changes in decades in what may result in more of the country’s hard currency reserves going to the country’s sovereign wealth fund, where they can be used to pay for Mohammed bin Salman’s ambitious projects, the Financial Times reports. The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (Sama), the custodian of the kingdom’s oil wealth which has long favored low-risk assets, has been increasingly overshadowed by MbS’ Public Investment Fund, which has been diverting Sama’s reserves to finance projects associated with his Vision 2030. And this new balance of power will likely be formalized this month when a new law comes into force that analysts say will enable the transfer of more of the kingdom’s wealth to the PIF.
A rise in commodity prices is stoking predictions of long-term “supercycle” growth driven by Chinese demand for raw materials and a global energy transition away from carbon, the Financial Times reports. Positive growth in 27 commodities futures over the past six months — including in oil, copper, soybeans and coffee — has led some analysts to liken the trend to the impact that rapid Chinese industrialization had on prices in the early 2000’s. Goldman Sachs is now saying that recent growth points to a “much longer structural bull market.”
French energy giant Total posted a steep decline in annual profit last year, as it reckoned with a historic collapse in oil prices due to the covid-19 pandemic. Profits in 2020 tumbled 66% to come in at just USD 4.06 bn versus USD 11.8 bn a year ago, the company announced in its earnings release (pdf) yesterday.
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EGX30 |
11,448 |
-0.65% (YTD: +5.6%) |
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USD (CBE) |
Buy 15.60 |
Sell 15.70 |
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USD at CIB |
Buy 15.59 |
Sell 15.69 |
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Interest rates CBE |
8.25% deposit |
9.25% lending |
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Tadawul |
8,893 |
+1.0% (YTD: +2.3%) |
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ADX |
5,663 |
+0.1% (YTD: +12.2%) |
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DFM |
2,647 |
+0.2% (YTD: +6.2%) |
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S&P 500 |
3,911 |
-0.1% (YTD: +4.1%) |
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FTSE 100 |
6,532 |
+0.1% (YTD: +1.1%) |
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Brent crude |
USD 61.14 |
+0.1% |
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Natural gas (Nymex) |
USD 2.81 |
-0.7% |
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Gold |
USD 1,837.00 |
– |
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BTC |
USD 46,422.09 |
+0.9% |
The EGX30 fell 0.65% yesterday on turnover of EGP 1.37 bn (3.5% above the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is up 5.6% YTD.
In the green: Pioneers Holding (+2.0%), Eastern Company (+1.0%) and Telecom Egypt (+0.5%).
In the red: Alexandria Mineral Oils (-2.1%), Qalaa Holdings (-1.8%) and Sodic (-1.6%).
Asian markets are all solidly in the green this morning and future suggest both European bourses and Wall Street will follow suit later today.