China’s growth wasn’t great in 2Q: China’s economy grew at a meager rate in the second quarter of 2023 on the back of declining exports, weak retail sales, and a struggling real estate sector, raising the likelihood that policymakers will deploy new stimulus to lift the weak economic recovery, more than six months after stringent covid-19 restrictions were lifted. GDP fell short of expectations, growing just 0.8% during the quarter compared to 1Q, according to data released by the country’s National Bureau of Statistics.

The story is everywhere in the international business press: Reuters | Wall Street Journal | Financial Times | Bloomberg | CNBC.

ALSO WORTH NOTING-

  • Aramco chief gets a seat at the table at the world’s largest asset manager: BlackRock has appointed Aramco CEO Amin Nasser to its board. ( Bloomberg)
  • New Kuwaiti wealth fund: Kuwait is planning to launch a new sovereign fund named the Ciyada Development Fund as the emirate looks to boost domestic investment, Bloomberg reports. This will be the country’s second sovereign investment vehicle after the Kuwait Investment Authority’s USD 700 bn Future Generations Fund.
  • EU to investigate Microsoft for market abuse: The EU will open a formal investigation into Microsoft, over alleged anti-competitive practices related to its bundling of its video conferencing app Teams with its Office software. ( Financial Times)

EGX30

17,512

+1.0% (YTD: +20.0%)

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

11,780

+0.6% (YTD: +12.4%)

ADX

9,681

+0.1% (YTD: -5.2%)

DFM

4,019

+0.2% (YTD: +20.5%)

S&P 500

4,527

+0.5% (YTD: +17.9%)

FTSE 100

7,406

-0.4% (YTD: -0.6%)

Euro Stoxx 50

4,357

-1.0% (YTD: +14.9%)

Brent crude

USD 78.44

-1.8%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 2.53

-0.5%

Gold

USD 1,959.00

-0.3%

BTC

USD 29,930

-1.2% ( YTD: +81.1%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose 1.0% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 1.52 bn (21.4% below the trailing 90-day avera ge). Local investors were net buyers. The index is up 20.0% YTD.

In the green: E-Finance (+3.7%), Juhayna (+3.6%) and Oriental Weavers (+3.1%).

In the red: Taaleem Management Services (-2.5%), Credit Agricole (-2.0%) and Heliopolis Housing (-0.8%).

Shares in Asia are in the red again this morning following yesterday’s less-than-perfect GDP data out of China. Markets in Europe and the US look set to follow them later today, according to equity futures.

Tags: