US stocks close at record highs on strong earnings: US equity markets reached fresh record highs yesterday as the strong 3Q earnings season continued, according to Bloomberg. More than 80% of S&P 500 firms that have reported financials have beaten estimates, helping the benchmark index to close 0.2% in the green despite fresh data showing manufacturing activity slowed again in October due to supply chain issues.

The surge in oil prices is hurting Saudi Aramco’s refining and chemicals arm: While Aramco’s upstream operations continue to boom amid soaring oil prices, Aramco’s downstream arm — which includes refinineries and chemicals subsidiary Sabic — has not been as lucky, reporting a 13% q-o-q drop in net income in 3Q2021, suggesting margins have peaked, according to Bloomberg. Sabic expects the downtick to continue through the winter as fuel demand slackens.

Brent crude prices hit fresh three-year highs last month, as the global gas supply crisis pushes buyers to seek alternative fuel sources.

Dell is set to pull off one of the largest ever corporate spin-offs: The computer software giant will spin off its 81% stake in publicly traded cloud computing company VMware, creating a separate company with a market cap of almost USD 64 bn, reports the Financial Times. The spinoff will partly reverse Dell’s USD 67 bn takeover of VMWare owner EMC in 2015 — and will help reduce the debt load of the company, which borrowed USD 70 bn to finance the takeover.

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose 1.3% yesterday on turnover of EGP 1.3 bn (15.1% below the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is up 6.7% YTD.

In the green: Raya Holding (+6.4%), Qalaa Holding (+6%) and EKH-EGP (+3.9%).

In the red: Pioneers Properties (-3.5%), Egyptian Resorts Company (-3.2%) and Mopco (-3%).

It’s a “meh” morning in global markets, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng trimming nearly half of its gains earlier in the session (it’s up 0.8% at dispatch time), while the Kospi in Seoul is up about 1.6%. Shares in Tokyo and Shanghai are skimming into the red, as is the ASX, where traders are waiting for Australia’s interest rate decision later today. Futures suggest shares on Wall Street, in Toronto and much of Europe will open in the red later today, with just the CAC 40 breaking the pattern.