Saudi Arabia will voluntarily cut oil production by 1 mn barrels per day after the OPEC+ group of oil producers failed to agree on new curbs during a tense meeting in Vienna yesterday. The reduction comes on top of its 500k b/d voluntary cut in April, and will see the kingdom’s production fall to its lowest level in several years. Speaking following the meeting, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said the kingdom “will do whatever is necessary” to stabilize the market. April’s supply cut has failed to support oil prices, which have been on a downward trend in recent weeks on fears of a global economic slowdown.

Oil prices are rising in Asia this morning following the news: Brent futures were up 0.8% to USD 77.05 a barrel while US crude was 1.4% higher.

Speculators bullish on tech, bearish on S&P 500: Speculative investors are anticipating a decline in the S&P 500 Index, while predicting growth in the tech-focused Nasdaq 100, according to data picked up by the Wall Street Journal. Growing negativity about the prospects for the broader stock market has resulted in investors acquiring their most bearish positioning since 2007. On the flipside, expectations for a tech rally are building: the seven big tech companies listed on the S&P 500 have been the difference makers in keeping the index from falling into negative this year. While the S&P 500 is up almost 12% this year, potential misfires from tech companies could leave the index vulnerable, says the WSJ.

A return to normalcy at the Turkish central bank? Turkey’s new finance minister, Mehmet Simsek, has pledged a return to “rational” policies, putting an end to years of unorthodox monetary policies pushed by the country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Financial Times reports. Simsek was appointed to the cabinet on Saturday following Erdogan’s reelection to a new five-year term last week. “The choice of Mehmet Simsek. . . increases the likelihood that monetary policy will shift towards a more orthodox direction,” Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in a note following his appointment.

EGX30

17,455

-0.4% (YTD: +19.6%)

USD (CBE)

Buy 30.84

Sell 30.96

USD at CIB

Buy 30.85

Sell 30.95

Interest rates CBE

18.25% deposit

19.25% lending

Tadawul

11,222

+1.9% (YTD: +7.1%)

ADX

9,406

+0.4% (YTD: -7.9%)

DFM

3,603

+0.6% (YTD: +8.0%)

S&P 500

4,282

+1.5% (YTD: +11.5%)

FTSE 100

7,607

+1.6% (YTD: +2.1%)

Euro Stoxx 50

4,324

+1.6% (YTD: +14.0%)

Brent crude

USD 76.13

+2.5%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 2.17

+0.7%

Gold

USD 1,969.60

-1.3%

BTC

USD 27,256

+0.6% (YTD: +64.9%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 fell 0.4% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 2.84 bn.ِ Regional investors were net buyers. The index is up 19.6% YTD.

In the green: Ibnsina Pharma (+14.0%), Qalaa Holdings (+10.0%) and Fawry (+3.3%).

In the red: Abu Qir Fertilizers (-3.5%), Eastern Company (-3.3%), and Sidi Kerir Petrochemicals (-2.7%).

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