PE, watch out: Hedge funds are starting to eye up unlisted companies: Third Point, Marshall Wace, and BlueCrest Capital are among the hedge funds that want to invest in unlisted companies usually snapped up by private equity firms, the Financial Times reports.

GLOBAL EARNINGS WATCH- HSBC’s net income more than doubled to USD 8.4 bn in 1H2021, thanks to the global economic rebound, it said in its earnings statement (pdf). Pre-tax income, meanwhile, rose by USD 6.5 bn to USD 10.8 bn, beating out analysts’ estimate that forecast USD 9.5 bn, and allowing it to make its second dividend payout since covid hit last year.

GLOBAL M&A- Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp is buying IHS Markit’s energy and renewables information service business, as well as other related assets, in a USD 1.15 bn transaction, the Wall Street Journal reports. The acquisition is expected to close sometime during the fourth quarter of the year, at which time S&P Global will have acquired IHS Markit itself. S&P agreed late last year to buy IHS Markit for a whopping USD 44 bn, in a transaction that would create what the Financial Times referred to as a “data and information powerhouse.”

Eurozone manufacturing PMI falls in July, but beats flash estimate: The composite index for the bloc fell to 62.8 in July from a record high of 63.4 in June, but came in slightly higher than a preliminary reading of 62.6, according to the IHS Markit PMI survey (pdf). This comes as “manufacturers and their suppliers are struggling to raise production fast enough to meet demand, driving prices ever higher,” an IHS economist said. European factories — especially in Germany and Austria — have been adding new workers at a rate not seen in two years to meet a growth in new orders.

The story got coverage in the global press: Bloomberg | Reuters.

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose 0.1% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 2.37 bn (47.2% above the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is down 0.2% YTD.

In the green: Ezz Steel (+6.3%), MM Group (+4.9%) and AMOC (+4.4%).

In the red: Speed Medical (-4.5%), Egyptian for Tourism Resorts (-2.7%) and Mopco (-1.3%).