It’s another quiet morning on Planet Finance with a number of markets (LSE, for example) off for Boxing Day and plenty of traders staying home in the last, quiet week of the year.

S&P 500 nears all-time high: S&P 500 rose 0.4% during yesterday’s trading, closing about 0.5% away from its all-time high as expectations of the US Federal Reserve moving forward with rate cuts in 2024 keep market sentiment high, Bloomberg wrote.

The Nikkei and shares in Australia are up in early trading this morning, Shanghai is flat, and Hong Kong is shaking off a two-day holiday. Aussie shares are at a two-year high, CNBC. Shares in Europe look set to open in the green later this morning, while Wall Street could dip into the red at the opening bell.

ALSO WORTH MENTIONING-

Banking sector slashed over 60k+ jobs this year: Twenty of the world’s biggest banks cut at least 61.9k jobs in 2023, making it one of the worst years for layoffs since the 2008 financial crisis, when the same lenders eliminated 140k jobs. (Financial Times)

EGX30

23,995

-1.0% (YTD: +64.4%)

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

11,873

+0.5% (YTD: +13.3%)

ADX

9,517

+0.3% (YTD: -6.8%)

DFM

4,029

+0.3% (YTD: +20.8%)

S&P 500

4,775

+0.4% (YTD: +24.4%)

FTSE 100

7,698

0.0% (YTD: +3.3%)

Euro Stoxx 50

4,521

-0.1% (YTD: +19.2%)

Brent crude

USD 81.07

+2.5%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 2.55

-2.3%

Gold

USD 2,079

0.0%

BTC

USD 42,482

-2.7% (YTD: +156.9%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 fell 1.0% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 3.2 bn (2.3% below the 90-day average). Local investors were net sellers. The index is up 64.4% YTD.

In the green: Beltone Financial Holding (+5.1%), Abu Qir Fertilizers (+3.4%) and Ezz Steel (+3.3%).

In the red: ADIB (-5.0%), Palm Hills Development (-3.6%) and GB Corp (-3.5%).

CORPORATE ACTIONS-

Mopco back to trading tomorrow: Mopco’s shares will resume trading on the EGX tomorrow after a three-day voluntary halt, following its merger with subsidiary, the Egyptian Nitrogen Products Company (ENPC), according to an EGX disclosure (pdf). Mopco’s eligible shareholders tomorrow will receive new shares resulting from the merger at a ratio of 8.07 new shares for each share held before the combination of the two businesses.

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