US stocks suffer biggest weekly losses since February on Fed rate hike fears
US stocks sustained their worst weekly losses since February Friday, after the Fed's signal that it may hike interest rates sooner than they had previously anticipated in a bid to control inflation, according to the Financial Times. The benchmark S&P 500 fell 1.3%, taking its losses for the week to 1.9%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 0.9% to end the week down 0.3%.
Noises made by the Fed following last week’s meeting have been interpreted as the opening salvo of a “transition phase,” where policymakers will slowly start to roll back the ultra-loose policy and set expectations for rate hikes and an end to its USD 120 bn per month bond-buying programme, analysts tell the salmon-colored paper.
And expect bumps along the way: “The big picture here is that this is the beginning of the transition phase from really accommodative monetary policy to what is going to be less accommodative monetary policy,” said one fund manager. “We are going to start with tapering and then there are going to be some rate hikes, and I think the market is going to have trouble adjusting to that. It is going to lead to a little more volatility.”
Saudi Aramco has sold a near-majority stake in its oil pipeline operations arm for USD 12.4 bn to a consortium of international investors led by US-based EIG Global Energy Partners, EIG said in a statement Friday. Aramco will retain a 51% stake and and operational control of the unit.
The UK is anticipated to bounce back to its pre-covid output levels one year ahead of schedule, the Financial Times reports. The Confederation of British Industry predicts that the GDP will grow by 8.2%, and a further 6.2% in 2022, twice as fast as previously expected. Roughly 70% of the growth in 2022 will be driven by consumer spending, which is seen as “the linchpin of the recovery.”
|
|
EGX30 |
9,866 |
-0.2% (YTD: -9.0%) |
|
|
USD (CBE) |
Buy 15.60 |
Sell 15.70 |
|
|
USD at CIB |
Buy 15.60 |
Sell 15.70 |
|
|
Interest rates CBE |
8.25% deposit |
9.25% lending |
|
|
Tadawul |
10,853 |
-% (YTD: +24.9%) |
|
|
ADX |
6,646 |
-0.8% (YTD: +31.7%) |
|
|
DFM |
2,862 |
+0.8% (YTD: +14.9%) |
|
|
S&P 500 |
4,166 |
-1.3% (YTD: +10.9%) |
|
|
FTSE 100 |
7,017 |
-1.9% (YTD: +8.6%) |
|
|
Brent crude |
USD 73.51 |
+0.6% |
|
|
Natural gas (Nymex) |
USD 3.22 |
-1.2% |
|
|
Gold |
USD 1,769.00 |
-0.33% |
|
|
BTC |
USD 36,010 |
+1.2% (as of midnight) |
THE CLOSING BELL-
The EGX30 fell 0.2% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 1.40 bn (9.1% above the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is down 9.0% YTD.
In the green: Ezz Steel (+6.0%), Cleopatra Hospital (+4.5%), and AMOC (+3.1).
In the red: GB Auto (-1.8%), Heliopolis Housing (-1.7%) and Pioneers Holding (-1.7%).