The era of ultra-cheap money is coming to an end, the Financial Times declares. In a long read out this morning, the salmon-colored paper notes the rather abrupt turn towards more restrictive monetary policies by some central banks around the world. Facing higher inflation for longer than first thought, the Federal Reserve, Bank of England, and Norway’s Norges Bank have all changed their tone towards the hawkish. Norway was the first country in the developed world to hike rates, the BOE indicated that it could hike rates before the year is out, while the Fed last week gave its strongest statement yet that will begin dialling back stimulus later in 2021.

Yes, but… Globally, the flow of super-cheap credit will continue into next year, even if some central banks begin to gradually raise rates, Bloomberg says. Many central banks have given no indication that they intend to ease off the gas just yet: the Bank of Japan, the People’s Bank of China and the European Central Bank all remain hesitant to turn off the taps. Economists at JPMorgan believe central banks will at USD 1.5 tn to their balance sheets in 2022, and that global rates will only increase by 11 basis points to an average of 1.48% — 8-0 bps below their pre-covid level.

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose 0.4% at Thursday’s close on turnover of EGP 1.28 bn (18.9% below the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is down 1.9% YTD.

In the green: AMOC (+6.1%), Orascom Development Egypt (+3.0%) and Egyptian Resorts Company (+2.6%).

In the red: CIRA (-3.5%), Rameda (-0.9%) and Pioneers Holding (-0.7%).