Three-figure oil = bad news for the global economy, says IEA chief: Oil prices moving back towards USD 100 a barrel will put more pressure on the global economy, the head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, said yesterday, calling on OPEC+’s to rethink last month’s decision to cut supply. “This decision may put further upward pressure on inflation and weaken the global economy,” he said on the sidelines of COP27. Reuters and Bloomberg both talked to the IEA chief.

REGIONAL HEADLINES worth knowing:

• IPO Watch: UAE cooling systems firm Empower raised AED 2.7 bn (USD 724 mn) in its Dubai IPO, selling 2 bn shares priced at the top of its range. The company received some USD 34 bn of bids after doubling the offering due to high demand. (Bloomberg)
• PIF backs private equity takeover of Vodafone’s towers business: A consortium including Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is set to purchase Vodafone’s EUR 14.8 bn towers business, trumping an offer by Spain’s Cellnex. (FT)
• Saudi Arabia has tapped US-based investment bank Lazard to help it drum up funding for its USD 500 bn high-tech city Neom, with debt sales and a 2024 Riyadh IPO on the table. (Bloomberg)

GLOBAL HEADLINES worth knowing:

• Bangladesh becomes the sixth country to agree to IMF bailout in 2022: Bangladesh has reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF for a USD 4.5 bn bailout. Egypt, Lebanon, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Zambia have also inked facilities. (IMF)
• Musk sells more Tesla shares: Elon Musk sold 19.5 mn shares worth nearly USD 4 bn in the EV maker, following his landmark USD 44 bn purchase of Twitter. The b’naire has now sold some USD 36 bn of Tesla stock in the past year. (Bloomberg)
• Meta confirms huge layoffs: The social media company has fired 13% of its workforce — shedding some 11k jobs — following terrible 3Q earnings as it spends big on the metaverse. (Reuters)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose 4.6% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 1.24 bn (11.1% above the 90-day average). Local investors were net sellers. The index is down 1.4% YTD.

In the green: Eastern Company (+15.7%), CIB (+11.4%) and Alexandria Containers and Cargo Handling (+4.7%).

In the red: QNB Alahli (-3.1%), Ezz Steel (-2.3%) and GB Auto (-1.9%).

It’s a sea of red in Asia this morning following yesterday’s sell-off on Wall Street. The Hang Seng is leading the declines (-2.0%) while the Kospi, the Nikkei and the Shanghai Composite are all lower. Stock futures for Europe and the US are mixed this morning.