Earnings season continues in the US of A:

  • Morgan Stanley has its best year ever in 2020 after profits grew by 42% more than forecasts had suggested 4Q2020, off the back of high trading volumes in the last quarter, according to an earnings release (pdf).
  • Our newfound germophobia was good news for P&G, which raised its sales forecast for the second time in a year and reported an 8% rise in sales in 4Q off the back of covid-driven demand for cleaning products, Reuters reports.

The Bahraini government closed a USD 2 bn three-tranche bond sale as the pandemic and low oil prices continue to weigh on its fiscal deficit and pushed its debt dues to USD 40 bn, reports Reuters.

A global shipping container shortage has sent prices skyrocketing to more than three times their price just two months ago, the FT reports. The sudden increase has been attributed to a supply chain “bottleneck” as a sharp rebound in western demand for Asian goods has left companies battling for access to containers and shipping lines, said SeaIntelligence consultant Lars Jensen.

EGX30

11,599

+1.0% (YTD: +6.9%)

USD (CBE)

Buy 15.67

Sell 15.77

USD at CIB

Buy 15.68

Sell 15.78

Interest rates CBE

8.25% deposit

9.25% lending

Tadawul

8,878

-0.3% (YTD: +2.2%)

ADX

5,676

+0.3% (YTD: +12.5%)

DFM

2,792

+1.4% (YTD: +12.1%)

S&P 500

3,851

+1.4% (YTD: +2.6%)

FTSE 100

6,740

+0.4% (YTD: +4.3%)

Brent crude

USD 55.67

-0.4%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 2.54

-0.3%

Gold

USD 1,872

+1.7%

BTC

USD 34,943

-4.4%

The EGX30 rose 1% yesterday on turnover of EGP 1.7 bn (20.8% above the 90-day average). Local investors were net buyers. The index is up 6.9% YTD.

In the green: Pioneers Holding (+8.5%), Egyptian Iron & Steel (+7.5%) and Beltone Financial Holding (+6.9%).

In the red: Ezz Steel (-0.8%), Egypt Kuwait Holding (-0.7%) and CIRA (-0.6%).

It’s a sea of green this morning: Asian shares are up and futures suggest a nice bounce for investors in day two of the Biden administration, with shares in Europe and North America on track to open in the green later today.

Tags: