It’s looking like a rate hike at the Fed: Wall Street experts are putting their money on the Federal Reserve moving forward with a 25-bps rate hike during its meeting this week, despite the turmoil in the banking sector, according to CNBC. Recent forecasts for the March meeting have varied from a 50-bps hike to even a possible rate cut in response to the crisis, which has seen three US banks collapse and left giant Swiss lender Credit Suisse in dire straits. But the consensus now is that the central bank will prioritize maintaining credibility in its fight against inflation, the news outlet writes.

“They have to do something, otherwise they lose credibility,” said one strategist. “They want to do 25, and the 25 sends a message. But it’s really going to depend on the comments afterwards, what [Fed chairman] Powell says in public. … I don’t think he’s going to do the 180-degree shift everybody’s talking about.”

	EGX30	14,704	-0.1% (YTD: +0.7%)
	USD (CBE)	Buy 30.84	Sell 30.94
	USD at CIB	Buy 30.85	Sell 30.95
	Interest rates CBE	16.25% deposit	17.25% lending
	Tadawul	9,977	-0.7% (YTD: -4.8%)
	ADX	9,650	+2.2% (YTD: -5.5%)
	DFM	3,349	+1.3% (YTD: +0.4%)
	S&P 500	3,917	-1.1% (YTD: +2.0%)
	FTSE 100	7,335	-1.1% (YTD: -1.6%)
	Euro Stoxx 50	4,065	-1.3% (YTD: +7.2%)
	Brent crude	USD 72.97	-2.3%
	Natural gas (Nymex)	USD 2.34	-7.0%
	Gold	USD 1,990.20	+2.6%
	BTC	USD 27,309	+0.6% (YTD: +65.8%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 fell 0.1% at Thursday’s close on turnover of EGP 2.1 bn (1.6% above the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is up 0.7% YTD.

In the green: Sidi Kerir Petrochemicals (+7.8%), Elsewedy Electric (+2.9%) and GB Auto (+4.6%).

In the red: CIRA Education (-9.5%), Eastern Company (-6.3%) and Orascom Construction (-2.2%).