Hawkish Fed sends USD to six-month high: The USD reached its highest level in six months on Friday as investors took a pessimistic view on interest rates in the wake of the Federal Reserve meeting last week, the Financial Times reports. The central bank’s indication that interest rates will need to stay higher for longer to curb inflation sent the currency to highs against the EUR, the GBP and the JPY not seen since March, and triggered sell-offs in the equity and treasury markets.

A two-month rally: The USD index — which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies — has risen more than 6% since its recent low in mid-July.

Why this matters for countries like Egypt: This isn’t good news for countries with USD-denominated debts or for those heavily dependent on imports. A stronger greenback makes it more expensive to service USD debt and to pay for imports.

ALSO WORTH NOTING-

  • Hedge funds are adding fuel to the oil rally: Hedge funds are placing large bets that oil prices will surpass USD 100, putting further upward pressure on prices being driven by Saudi Arabia and Russia’s supply cuts. (F inancial Tim es )
  • Aussie LNG strikes ended: Striking Australian LNG workers have sealed an agreement with US energy giant Chevron, putting an end to two weeks of disruption that threatened to take as much as 10% of global supply off the market. (Reuters)

EGX30

20,081

+1.4% (YTD: +37.6%)

USD (CBE)

Buy 30.83

Sell 30.96

USD at CIB

Buy 30.85

Sell 30.95

Interest rates CBE

19.25% deposit

20.25% lending

Tadawul

10,949

-1.0% (YTD: +4.4%)

ADX

9,849

0.0% (YTD: -3.5%)

DFM

4,169

-0.3% (YTD: +25.0%)

S&P 500

4,320

-0.2% (YTD: +12.5)

FTSE 100

7,684

+0.1% (YTD: +3.1%)

Euro Stoxx 50

4,207

-0.1% (YTD: +10.9%)

Brent crude

USD 93.27

0.0%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 2.64

+1.0%

Gold

USD 1,945.60

+0.3%

BTC

USD 26,591

+0.2% (YTD: +60.9%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose 1.4% at Thursday’s close on turnover of EGP 2.0 bn (8.2% below the 90-day average). Regional investors were net sellers. The index is up 37.6% YTD.

In the green: Egypt Kuwait Holding (+8.9%), Talaat Moustafa Group (+6.1%), and Telecom Egypt (+4.5%).

In the red: Alexandria Containers and Cargo Handling (-2.6%), Qalaa Holdings (-1.8%), and Beltone Holding (-0.7%).

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