Central banks won’t be taking their feet off the gas anytime soon: Despite hopes in some quarters that central banks will begin to dial back the aggressive monetary tightening in the new year, we should brace for further rate hikes triggered by continued inflationary pressures. This is according to the Financial Times, which points out that core inflation rates are continuing to rise in most major economies, keeping the pressure on monetary policymakers to continue raising interest rates.

But Enterprise, I thought inflation had peaked? Headline inflation rates have indeed begun to fall back in most developed economies over the past couple of months, leading global markets and the financial press to speculate that central bankers may be about to relax their hardline policy stances.

Yes, but: According to the FT, core inflation — which strips out volatile food and energy prices — is showing no signs of slowing down in the majority of the 33 countries it tracks.

Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell indicated as much last week, telling a disappointed market that, even though the central bank had chosen to raise rates by a small 50 bps, that “we still have some ways to go.

“There is still the potential for plenty of pain ahead … Stubbornly high prices continue to cause severe headaches for economies,” one analyst told the paper.

Also worth noting:

• JPMorgan is bullish on EM bonds as global growth + inflation brake: Strategists at US investment bank JPMorgan are backing taking an overweight position on local emerging-market bonds, whose risk-reward profile they say is becoming more attractive against USD counterparts as global growth and inflation slow, according to a note seen by Bloomberg.
• Major layoffs planned at Goldman: Goldman Sachs is reportedly planning to cut around 8% of its workforce in January in preparation for a tougher economic environment. (CNBC)
• Musk is already looking for new equity investors for Twitter: Elon Musk could sell more shares in Twitter to new investors in a bid to buoy the platform as it faces advertisers’ exits and looming debt payments. (Semafor)

	EGX30	14,843	-2.0% (YTD: +24%)
	USD (CBE)	Buy 24.66	Sell 24.74
	USD at CIB	Buy 24.65	Sell 24.72
	Interest rates CBE	13.25% deposit	14.25% lending
	Tadawul	10,252	-0.4% (YTD: -9.1%)
	ADX	10,328	+1.6% (YTD: +21.7%)
	DFM	3,329	+0.4% (YTD: +4.2%)
	S&P 500	3,852	-1.1% (YTD: -19.2%)
	FTSE 100	7,332	-1.3% (YTD: -0.7%)
	Euro Stoxx 50	3,804	-0.8% (YTD: -11.5%)
	Brent crude	USD 79.04	-2.7%
	Natural gas (Nymex)	USD 6.60	-5.3%
	Gold	USD 1,800.20	+0.7%
	BTC	USD 16,750	+0.2% (YTD: -63.8%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 fell 2.0% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 1.98 bn (31.8% above the 90-day average). Local investors were net buyers. The index is up 24.2% YTD.

In the green: Telecom Egypt (+2.3%), Juhayna (+2.1%) and AMOC (+1.2%).

In the red: Alexandria Container and Cargo Handling (-5.8%), Palm Hills Development (-4.4%) and Fawry (-3.7%).