US stocks fall suffer another week of losses on rate fears
Another bad week for US stocks: Wall Street suffered its third consecutive weekly loss as concerns about rising interest rates continued to spook investors. The S&P 500 declined 1.1% on Friday, taking its weekly loss to 3.3%, while the Nasdaq also fell 3.3% after losing 1.4% during the final session of the week. US stocks have been on their worst run of form since mid-June in recent days after Federal Reserve officials indicated they would not soften their stance on rising interest rates until inflation has fallen back significantly. The Financial Times and Bloomberg have more.
Aramco’s VC arm to ramp up investing this year: As part of the push to diversify the Saudi economy, Aramco's venture capital arm Wa’ed is looking to invest around USD 100 mn this year, CEO Fahad Alidi told Bloomberg, after investing about USD 50 mn across the previous nine years. Some 11 investments are already in the pipeline for the VC’s USD 200 mn fund in 2H 2022, he added. The company will reportedly diversify beyond fintech and e-commerce to fields like deeptech, space tech, the metaverse, and sustainability. In its first international venture, Wa’ed has made a USD 13 mn series A investment in Luxembourg-based satellite operator OQ Technology.
Russia’s big problem: How to slow a surging RUB. Moscow is mulling buying as much as USD 70 bn-worth of CNY and other “friendly” currencies this year as part of a plan to slow the surge of the RUB on the back of an influx of earnings from sales of oil and gas, Bloomberg reports, citing government documents it has seen. The rallying currency is undermining the competitiveness of Moscow’s exports and widening its trade deficit, leading officials to discuss snapping up CNY now before selling the holdings to fund investment in the long term, the business newswire says. Half of the Kremlin's USD 640 bn FX reserves have been frozen due to sanctions.
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EGX30 |
9,937 |
-0.6% (YTD: -16.8%) |
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USD (CBE) |
Buy 19.18 |
Sell 19.26 |
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USD at CIB |
Buy 19.20 |
Sell 19.26 |
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Interest rates CBE |
11.25% deposit |
12.25% lending |
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Tadawul |
12,143 |
-1.2% (YTD: +7.6%) |
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ADX |
9,755 |
+0.3% (YTD: +14.9%) |
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DFM |
3,394 |
-0.6% (YTD: +6.2%) |
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S&P 500 |
3,924 |
-1.1% (YTD: -17.7%) |
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FTSE 100 |
7,281 |
+1.9% (YTD: -1.4%) |
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Euro Stoxx 50 |
3,544 |
+2.5% (YTD: -17.5%) |
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Brent crude |
USD 93.02 |
+0.7% |
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Natural gas (Nymex) |
USD 8.79 |
-5.1% |
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Gold |
USD 1,722.60 |
+0.8% |
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BTC |
USD 19,807 |
-0.9% (YTD: -57.1%) |
THE CLOSING BELL-
The EGX30 fell 0.6% at Thursday’s close on turnover of EGP 1.04 bn (16.4% above the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is down 16.8% YTD.
In the green: Eastern Company (+2.6%), e-Finance (+2.1%) and Sidi Kerir Petrochemicals (+1.2%).
In the red: Mopco (-5.2%), Palm Hills Development (-4.0%) and Cleopatra Hospitals (-3.2%).