EM stocks give up 2021 gains on China fears: The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 2.4% on Monday, erasing 2021 gains, as a sell-off in Chinese stocks gathered pace, Bloomberg reports. Chinese shares, which make up a third of the index’s weighting, sold off this week after rumors that US funds were exiting China and Hong Kong assets surfaced. Investors are also skittish over the Chinese government’s increasingly confrontational approach to business, which in recent months has seen it crack down on the country’s largest tech companies and effectively shutter its domestic crypto industry.

Wall Street is anticipating volatility in Robinhood stock ahead of its IPO this week: Retail brokerage app, Robinhood, is expected to see heightened trading volatility this week after the company announced that it will be offering a larger-than-usual 35% of its 55 mn shares to retail investors in its Nasdaq IPO this Thursday, the Financial Times reports. Some investors appear to be cautious of the listing’s break from the 10-20% retail allotment norm, with some interpreting the decision as a signal of weak interest from institutional investors, and others pointing out that the potential for higher volatility with heavy retail involvement.

The company is seeking a USD 35 bn valuation and is targeting a price between USD 38 – USD 42 for its shares.

Twitter renews interest in online shopping: Twitter will start testing a new shopping feature, dubbed “Shop Module,” which will allow a limited number of retailers to promote up to five products at the top of their company profiles on Twitter. The feature will be only available to English-language users in the US and will see 12 companies including GameStop and bag company Arden Cove sell products through the website. The social media company is trying to keep up with its competitors which now provide e-commerce options such as Facebook, which rolled out the "Shops" feature last year. The story got coverage in Bloomberg and Reuters.

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose less than 0.1% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 2.12 bn (42.1% above the 90-day average). Local investors were net sellers. The index is down 0.7% YTD.

In the green: CI Capital (+3.6%), Ibnsina Pharma (+2.9%) and Cleopatra Hospital (+2.8%).

In the red: AMOC (-2.5%), SODIC (-2.0%) and Abou Kir Fertilizers (-1.4%).

Asian markets are mostly in the green in early trading this morning and futures suggest that US and European shares will suffer losses when trading begins later today.