Stocks finished the week on a low after days of wild swings on the back of contradictory developments in Russia’s war on Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal writes. The S&P 500 closed down 2.9% for the week on Friday, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 3.5% — marking the fourth weekly loss in the past five weeks for the two major US indices. The Nasdaq has now lost 18% since the start of the year, as war in Europe and ongoing inflationary worries batter high-value stocks.

Expect more volatility this week, as the Fed meets for its March policy meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday, the WSJ warns. Traders are overwhelmingly expecting the central bank to announce a quarter-point rate hike to kick off its tightening cycle in an attempt to curb decades-high inflation.

A quick reminder on terminology: Stocks down 10% from a recent high is a “correction.” A sustained drop of 20% or more is the marker of a bear market.

SOME RARE GOOD NEWS on the horizon for stocks? A quarter of a tn USD could flow from debt to equities by the end of March, the Financial Times writes, as big institutional investors rebalance their portfolios ahead of end-of-quarter reporting requirements. US pension funds and sovereign wealth funds are among those expected to rebuild their positions in stocks to meet long-term allocation targets, in a move that should support stock markets that have been whipsawed by the war in Ukraine.

MEANWHILE- Goldman Sachs has revised downwards its year-end target for the S&P 500 for the second time in less than a month in response to the commodities shock, Bloomberg reports.

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose 0.4% at Thursday’s close on turnover of EGP 996 mn (6.3% above the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is down 12.5% YTD.

In the green: Heliopolis Housing (+4.2%), Fawry (+2.8%) and Ezz Steel (+2.6%).

In the red: Cleopatra Hospital (-3.0%), CIRA (-2.9%) and Sidi Kerir Petrochem (-2.4%).