The first US tech earnings are in — and they’re not as disappointing as expected: Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet were the first of the US tech giants to release their second-quarter earnings yesterday amid investor unease about how global economic headwinds are impacting revenues in the sector. Microsoft missed its revenue estimates but an uber-bullish full-year forecast was greeted with relief by investors, sending the company’s share price up more than 6% in after-hours trading (earnings release). Alphabet, meanwhile, reported the slowest sales growth in two years and also missed expectations, but maintained strong revenues despite the headwinds (earnings release, pdf).

ALSO FROM 2Q 2022 EARNINGS SEASON:

• GM takes a tumble: Supply chain disruptions hit General Motors hard in 2Q, causing its net income to fall 40% y-o-y to USD 1.69 bn, lower than estimates. The company left its full-year outlook unchanged and said it would cut back on spending and hiring. (Earnings release)
• UBS misses earnings expectations: The global market sell-off in the second quarter caused the world’s largest wealth manager to miss earnings estimates. The bank reported net income of USD 2.1 bn yesterday, compared with analyst estimates of USD 2.4 bn. The bank’s share price fell almost 9.5% on the news. (Earnings release)
• McDonald's did better: The fast food chain’s net income halved y-o-y to USD 1.19 bn but still beat estimates. (Earnings release, pdf)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose 1.2% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 1.1 bn (25% above the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is down 21.8% YTD.

In the green: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank- Egypt (+4.8%), E-Finance (+4.8%) and EFG-Hermes (+4.3%).

In the red: Ibnsina Pharma (-2.4%), MM Group (-1.5%) and Eastern Company (-1.0%).

Asian markets are uniformly down in trading this morning, but futures suggest shares in Europe (save the CAC 40), the United States and Canada have a good shot at opening in positive territory later today.