Planet Finance: UK inflation hits a fresh three-decade high, spurring fears of half-point rate hike
Against expectations, UK inflation accelerated for a fourth consecutive month in January to reach 5.5%, marking a fresh 30-year high, according to the Office of National Statistics. Economists and the Bank of England (BoE) had expected inflation to hold steady at 5.4%. The uptick in prices may push the BoE to raise interest rates by half a percentage point when it meets next month in a bid to tame inflation, Bloomberg says. Rate hikes typically come in quarter-point increments — and the BoE has never made a half-point hike in its independent history.
Saudi sovereign wealth fund-owned digital security firm Elm saw its share price rise 30% in its trading debut on the Tadawul yesterday, Bloomberg reports. The kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund has raked in USD 5 bn through fresh listings in just three months, with Elm’s IPO following bn-USD sales of stakes in Saudi Telecom and the Tadawul itself.
|
Up |
EGX30 |
11,568 |
+0.0% (YTD: -3.2%) |
|
None |
USD (CBE) |
Buy 15.66 |
Sell 15.76 |
|
None |
USD at CIB |
Buy 15.66 |
Sell 15.76 |
|
None |
Interest rates CBE |
8.25% deposit |
9.25% lending |
|
Up |
Tadawul |
12,495 |
+1.2% (YTD: +10.8%) |
|
Up |
ADX |
9,202 |
+0.7% (YTD: +8.4%) |
|
Up |
DFM |
3,326 |
+1.4% (YTD: +4.1%) |
|
Up |
S&P 500 |
4,475 |
+0.1% (YTD: -6.1%) |
|
Down |
FTSE 100 |
7,604 |
-0.1% (YTD: +3.0%) |
|
Up |
Brent crude |
USD 94.81 |
+1.6% |
|
Down |
Natural gas (Nymex) |
USD 4.64 |
-1.5% |
|
Up |
Gold |
USD 1,872 |
+0.0% |
|
Down |
BTC |
USD 44,028 |
-0.4% (as of midnight) |
THE CLOSING BELL-
The EGX30 rose less than 0.1% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 705 mn (32% below the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is down 3.2% YTD.
In the green: Credit Agricole Egypt (+4.0%), Oriental Weavers (+1.7%) and Heliopolis Housing (+1.5%).
In the red: Rameda (-3.6%), Ibnsina Pharma (-1.9%) and Elsewedy Electric (-1.9%).