Investor appetite for oil + gas bonds grows as prices rally: Investors are keen to buy oil and gas companies’ debt as crude oil prices soar, the Financial Times reports. Funds are now overweight on high-yield energy bonds, while one US gas producer reportedly saw double the usual levels of investor demand in a January issuance, raising USD 500 mn.

ESG? Not so important now we’re in an energy supply crunch. ESG has “gone to the back burner” now oil is performing, according to one debt banker. Others say industry efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in production are attracting fresh investment from environmentally conscious funds.

And now isn’t the time for antitrust concerns, either: EU regulators have halted a long-running probe into whether Qatari gas contracts breach EU antitrust rules, amid concerns that supply from Russia could be disrupted in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Financial Times reports. US President Joe Biden is among those trying to secure more natural gas supplies from Doha — which is the world’s second-biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas — in hopes of resolving Europe’s energy crisis.

Saudi Arabia has transferred a 4% stake (worth USD 80 bn) in Aramco to the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, ahead of plans for the fund to tap international debt markets for the first time, Bloomberg and Reuters report. The country’s economy grew at a 6.8% clip in 4Q2021 on the back of higher oil prices, according to a flash estimate (pdf) from the country’s General Authority for Statistics, maintaining “the fastest pace of growth in almost a decade,” Bloomberg reports.

Fitch downgraded Turkish debt to B+ from BB- with a negative outlook amid high inflation, low external liquidity and weak policy credibility. The ratings agency predicts the country’s economy slowing to 3.2% in 2022 from the 11% recorded last year.

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 fell 1.2% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 797 mn (23.8% below the 90-day average). Local investors were net buyers. The index is down 4.3% YTD.

In the green: TMG Holding (+2.7%), GB Auto (+2.5%) and Qalaa Holdings (+1.3%).

In the red: Rameda (-5.6%), Palm Hills Development (-4.8%) and Housing and Development Bank (-4.6%).

Asian markets are down across the board in early trading this morning as a spike in covid-19 cases in Hong Kong and high tensions over Ukraine play out in equities. Futures suggest European markets will almost all open in the red, while Wall Street looks set for a mixed open later today.