PIF eyes Saudia acquisition: Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund (PIF) is reportedly in early talks to acquire the kingdom’s national carrier Saudia as soon as next year to add it to its aviation assets portfolio, Bloomberg reports, citing sources it says have knowledge of the matter.

What we know: The ownership of the flagship airliner would be taken over by PIF from the government with the intention of improving its efficiency and profitability, the sources said. The flagship carrier could be either privatized or merged with Riyadh Air — a second flagship carrier being set up by PIF, they added.

Details are scant: There is no clarity as to how Saudia would be valued by PIF, which has received government-owned assets at no payment in the past as an intermediary step towards their privatization, Bloomberg said. There are also no firm decisions as of yet, with talks still at an early stage, and it is possible that the acquisition may be put off or canceled altogether, sources told the outlet.

PIF wants Riyadh Air to be the Gulf airlines boss: The sovereign wealth fund launched Riyadh Air in March last year in efforts to compete with regional rivals Emirates and Qatar Airways. It is set to kick off its operations next year and has a target of operating flights between 100 destinations by 2030. Saudia will also bid adieu to capital Riyadh by 2030 to make way for Riyadh Air and will instead shift its focus towards operations in Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport.

THE MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Asian markets are solidly in the red this morning, with traders sitting tight ahead of interest rate decisions later today from Australia and after the Bank of Japan hiked interest rates for the first time in 17 years. European and US stock futures all slid overnight, suggesting that key Wall Street and continental benchmarks will follow suit later today.

EGX30

29,091

-6.3% (YTD: +16.9%)

USD (CBE)

Buy 47.09

Sell 47.23

USD at CIB

Buy 47.1

Sell 47.2

Interest rates CBE

27.25% deposit

28.25% lending

Tadawul

12,772

+0.1% (YTD: +6.7%)

ADX

9,289

+0.7% (YTD: -3.0%)

DFM

4,275

+0.3% (YTD: +5.3%)

S&P 500

5,149

+0.6% (YTD: +8.0%)

FTSE 100

7,723

-0.1% (YTD: -0.1%)

Euro Stoxx 50

4,983

-0.1% (YTD: +10.2%)

Brent crude

USD 86.89

+1.8%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 1.72

+0.8%

Gold

USD 2,161

0.0%

BTC

USD 67,549

-1.3% (YTD: +56.8%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 fell 6.3% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 4.3 bn (11.6% below the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net buyers. The index is up 16.9% YTD.

In the green: Abu Qir Fertilizers (+0.6%).

In the red: E-finance (-14.3%), Elsewedy Electric (-13.6%) and Orascom Development (-12.6%).

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