Wall Street indexes closed in the red for the third day running as markets continue to reel from the Federal Reserve’s aggressive stance on interest rates. July’s jobs report (pdf) — which showed an ever-tightening labor market — only added fuel to the fire, pushing the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq down 1.1% and 1.12%, respectively. The S&P 500 has now seen almost half of its recent gains wiped out in the sell-off.

Asian markets are mainly in the red this morning as recession fears and rising interest rates continue to weigh on stocks around the world. Futures contracts currently have US shares and come indexes in Europe staging a recovery rally today.

Economic sentiment in Europe was worse than expected in August, despite an improved outlook among consumers, retail sales, and construction activity, according to the European Commission’s monthly economic sentiment index. The index dropped to 97.6 points in August from 98.9 in July, which was below the 98.0 points predicted by analysts surveyed by Reuters. The slump in sentiment comes as fears of a eurozone recession build, with the continent facing a historic energy crisis triggered by the sanctions war with Russia.

ALSO WORTH NOTING- Elon Musk is trying to delay his legal showdown with Twitter to November, after his legal team cited claims made by a whistleblower last week as a new justification for the termination of his USD 44 bn bid to take over the company. (Reuters)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose 0.1% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 1.39 bn (38.6% above the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is down 15.2% YTD.

In the green: GB Auto (+6.2%), Palm Hills Development (+3.7%) and Abu Qir Fertilizers (+2.7%).

In the red: Oriental Weavers (-3.2%), e-Finance (-2.5%) and Elsewedy Electric (-1.8%).