It’s a crucial week for many anxious investors,who on top of closely following developments in Israel’s war on Gaza are also awaiting the results of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, Reuters reported.

Some think it’s going to be a turbulent week for the oil market: It's shaping up to be another week of market volatility for oil and gas on the back of worries that the war in Gaza may escalate and disturb Middle East supplies. Brent crude finished trading 2.9% up at USD 90.48 on Friday and some traders are entering into options contracts that see we're going to go past the USD 100 a barrel mark, according to Bloomberg.

But despite the panic elsewhere, Mideast markets remain calm: Investors in Middle Eastern stocks showed “little sign of panic” that the war on Gaza is set to escalate substantially, with markets remaining more or less unchanged during yesterday’s trading, Bloomberg wrote. Tel Aviv’s benchmark index rose 1.3% during yesterday’s trading, following three days of closing in the red, and the Tadawul All Share Index rose 0.7%. Meanwhile, the EGX30 fell 0.8% and Kuwait’s Premier Market Index fell 2.5%.

And some analysts seem to agree: “The near-term probability of an escalation severe enough to destabilize global financial markets — driving oil above USD 100 a barrel and triggering a major flight to safety — remains low,” Gavekal Research’s Tom Holland and Yanmei Xie said in a note Sunday picked up by Bloomberg.

ALSO WORTH NOTING- Google to invest USD 2 bn in AI company Anthropic through a convertible debt-for-equity arrangement. The agreement makes Google the second tech giant to invest in the OpenAI rival, after Amazon’s USD 4 bn investment last month. (Bloomberg)

EGX30

23,087

-0.8% (YTD: 58.1%)

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

10,483

+0.7% (YTD: 0%)

ADX

9,237

-0.1% (YTD: -9.5%)

DFM

3,787

+0.1% (YTD: +13.5%)

S&P 500

4,117

-0.5% (YTD: -7.2%)

FTSE 100

7,291

-0.9% (YTD: -2.2%)

Euro Stoxx 50

4,014

-0.9% (YTD: +5.8%)

Brent crude

USD 90.48

+2.9%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 3.48

+0.2%

Gold

USD 1,998.50

+0.1%

BTC

USD 34,68.52

+0.8% (YTD: 109.5%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 fell 0.8% at yesterday's close on turnover of EGP 4.8 bn (106.9% above the 90-day average). Local investors were net buyers. The index is up 58.1% YTD.

In the green: Beltone Holding (+15.8%), GB Corp (+7.7%) and Heliopolis Housing (+6.%).

In the red: Abu Qir Fertilizers (-6.5%), TMG Holding (-5.5%) and Mopco (-5.0%).

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