MBC goes public on Tadawul today: The official trading on the regional broadcaster’sshares kicks off today on the Saudi exchange, after receiving bumper demand from institutional and retail investors for its SAR 831 mn (USD 222 mn) initial public offering, according to a Tadawul regulatory filing yesterday.

MBC has priced its shares at the top of the range at SAR 25 a piece, valuing the company atSAR 8.3 bn. The institutional offering, which wrapped on 6 December, drew SAR 54.5 bn (USD 14.5 bn) of orders and closed 66x oversubscribed, while the retail offering was 18x oversubscribed. Ninety percent of the shares were offered to institutions, while 10% were handed to individual buyers.

Advisors: HSBC Saudi Arabia is quarterbacking the transaction as lead manager, JP MorganSaudi Arabia, SNB Capital, along with HSBC are acting as joint financial advisors, bookrunners, and underwriters.

EGX30

25,350

-0.2% (YTD: +1.8%)

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

12,285

+1.2% (YTD: +2.7%)

ADX

9,661

+0.1% (YTD: +0.9%)

DFM

4,088

0.0% (YTD: +0.7%)

S&P 500

4,697

+0.2% (YTD: -1.5%)

FTSE 100

7,690

-0.4% (YTD: -0.6%)

Euro Stoxx 50

4,464

-0.2% (YTD: -1.3%)

Brent crude

USD 78.76

+1.5%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 2.89

+2.6%

Gold

USD 2,049.80

0.0%

BTC

USD 44,227.22

+0.6% (YTD: +4.5%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 fell 0.2% at Thursday’s close on turnover of EGP 3.5 bn (5% above the 90-day average). Local investors were net sellers. The index is up 1.8% YTD.

In the green: B Investments (+4.1%), GB Corp (+2.4%) and Palm Hills Development (+1.7%).

In the red: Beltone Holding (-2.8%), Eastern Company (-2.3%) and E-Finance (-2.2%).

Asian markets are flirting with positive territory in early trading. Futures suggest the Dow will open in the red at the opening bell in New York this morning, with the S&P500 and Nasdaq in the green. European shares look set for a strong open.

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