2021 was the year of the “everything rally,” as financial markets enjoyed a record-breaking comeback fueled by governments and central banks rolling out huge support programs, writes the Financial Times. The MSCI All-Country World index of global stock markets rose to USD 756.40 on Wednesday, compared to USD 645.29 on 30 December 2020 — the third consecutive year of double-digit returns.

US stocks had a pretty spectacular 2021: Both S&P 500 and Nasdaq gained about 27% during the year, beating out even the most bullish of outlooks.The S&P 500 ended the year at 4,766, a significant increase from analyst expectations, whose average forecasts sat at 4,074 at the start of the year, Bloomberg wrote.

But the UK and EMs have been largely been left on the sidelines: The MSCI UK kept up a decade long-trend of falling behind global peers, gaining only 11% in 2021, compared to 69% increase in Europe’s and 287% in the US. Analysts attributed the lag to Brexit and the lack of fast-growing tech stocks in the market. Meanwhile, the MSCI Emerging Markets index was down 5% in late December, dragged down by crackdowns in China on major sectors and stocks.

There is, however, optimism from some quarters on EMs: Emerging markets’ equities could return 18% in 2022 as corporate earnings grow and China’s clampdown subsides, JPMorgan strategists have predicted in the investment bank’s 2022 outlook. Meanwhile, a Bank of America fund managers survey cited by the FT suggests that EM stocks could provide some of the best returns over the year.

ALSO- The super-rich got super-richer: The collective fortune of the world’s 500 richest people jumped by more than USD 1 tn during 2021 on the back of soaring equity markets and rising valuations. The combined net worth of people featured on the Bloomberg Bn’aires Index is now more than USD 8.4 tn, with a record 10 people with fortunes exceeding USD 100 bn and more than 200 people being worth over USD 10 bn.

…unless they happened to head a Chinese tech company: China’s 10 richest tech tycoons lost almost a quarter of their wealth (i.e. USD 80 bn in net worth) in 2021, due to crackdowns by regulators, Bloomberg adds.

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose 0.4% on Thursday on turnover of EGP 1.1 bn (16.1% below the 90-day average). Local investors were net buyers. The index is up 10.2% YTD.

In the green: Gadwa Industrial Development (+6.4%), Aspire Capital (+4.3%) and Pioneers Properties (+3.1%).

In the red: Fawry (-1.8%), Egypt Kuwait Holding (-1.2%) and CIRA (-1.0%).