Volkswagen plans to invest EUR 2.4 bn to secure Chinese chip tech, the FinancialTimes reports. The German carmaker, which earns around half its net income in China, will take a 60% stake in a JV with Chinese firm Horizon Robotics as it pushes into AI-assisted and driverless cars as a way to maintain its lucrative market share in the country. The move is “likely to curry favor with the Chinese government,” one Beijing-based consultant told the salmon-colored paper, at a time of heightened tensions between Beiijing and the US over new chip export restrictions by the Biden administration.

And Samsung gets a one-year exemption from US chip restrictions: The South Korean tech giant has reportedly been authorized to continue receiving the chip-making equipment needed to maintain its production lines in China, the Wall Street Journal reports.

ALSO- Saudi IPOs roll on: Riyadh Cables is mulling a USD c.400 mn debut on Tadawul this year. (Bloomberg)

ALSO FROM PLANET FINANCE-

  • A Fox-News Corp merger on the table? Rupert Murdoch is looking into merging his media companies Fox Corporation and News Corp. (Statement)
  • India’s car-sharing platform Zoomcar is expected to debut on the Nasdaq via a SPAC transaction that could value the company at USD 456 mn. The company launched its Egypt branch in October 2021. (Bloomberg)

EGX30

9,854

+0.5% (YTD: -17.5%)

USD (CBE)

Buy 19.63

Sell 19.71

USD at CIB

Buy 19.65

Sell 19.71

Interest rates CBE

11.25% deposit

12.25% lending

Tadawul

11,422

-1.1% (YTD: +1.2%)

ADX

9,776

+0.8% (YTD: +15.2%)

DFM

3,377

+0.8% (YTD: +5.7%)

S&P 500

3,583

-2.4% (YTD: -24.9%)

FTSE 100

6,859

+0.1% (YTD: -7.1%)

Euro Stoxx 50

3,382

+0.6% (YTD: -21.3%)

Brent crude

USD 91.63

-3.1%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 6.45

-4.3%

Gold

USD 1,648.90

-1.7%

BTC

USD 19,088

-0.3% (YTD: -58.7%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose 0.5% at Thursday’s close on turnover of EGP 1.01 bn (2.9% above the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is down 17.5% YTD.

In the green: Cleopatra Hospitals (+4.4%), Elsewedy Electric (+3.4%) and Madinet Nasr Housing (+2.0%).

In the red: GB Auto (-2.4%), Orascom Construction (-2.3%) and Rameda Pharma (-1.1%).

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