Stocks are in for a choppy 2022: Few investors expect last year’s “everything rally” to be repeated in 2022, the Wall Street Journal reports. Instead, stocks are set to see a wobbly and uncertain year as the US Federal Reserve’s likely rate hikes combine with the rapidly spreading omicron variant to threaten economic growth. The narrowing spread in US treasury yields, slipping oil prices, and a recent stall in gains for the S&P 500 are among signs that investors’ optimism is waning.

Stagflation fears are back: Chief among investors’ worries is the possibility that if pandemic-induced supply chain problems and labor shortages continue to fuel inflation, governments may be forced to push ahead with rate hikes even as growth slows.

Record-breaking year for emerging-market IPOs can’t lift equities: 2021 saw emerging-market IPOs raise a record USD 230 bn – up 31% from 2020 – but EM equities still saw their worst annual performance since 2018 as risk appetite among foreign investors diminished, according to Bloomberg. Nearly 1.2k EM firms went public last year, with the IPO rush driven primarily by a spate of tech-related debuts in the first half of the year.

ALSO-

• Dubai will increase spending by 5% to USD 16.3 bn in 2022 as it looks to bolster the emirate’s economic recovery from the pandemic, Bloomberg reports.
• Food delivery app Delivery Hero is now the majority shareholder of Glovo, after signing an agreement to acquire an additional 39.4% stake in the Spanish company. The Talabat owner now also owns 43.8% of Glovo’s stakes on a non-diluted basis, it announced.

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 fell 0.3% yesterday on turnover of EGP 617 mn (52.6% below the 90-day average). Local investors were net buyers. The index is down 0.3% YTD.

In the green: Cleopatra Hospital (+2.0%), Rameda (+1.7%) and AMOC (+1.1%).

In the red: Mopco (-4.3%), Abu Qir Fertilizers (-3.2%) and Orascom Development Egypt (-2.7%).