US companies rush to secure financing ahead of elections: Companies in the US have issued USD 606 bn worth of corporate bonds since the start of the year — the highest total since 1990, as companies look to meet their financing needs ahead of any market volatility that could come about during the final stretch of the US election, the FinancialTimes reports. The possibility of a close election has caused companies to accelerate their financing plans to avoid the risk of running into pricier markets later this year, the salmon-colored paper wrote.

“I think what most companies are thinking — particularly frequent issuers — is — ‘let’s get the majority of our funding done in the first half of 2024’,” Morgan Stanley’s David Hodgson told FT. “[Then] if we go through the election, and the market response is positive for whatever reason, we’ll use the back end of the year to get a head start on 2025,” he added.

Meanwhile, investors continue to pour into corporate bonds: The US corporate bonds market has seen a record inflows since the start of the year, as investors look to cash in on high yields ahead of anticipated rate cuts. Inflows into corporate bond funds have recorded almost USD 23 bn so far this year.

THE MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Benchmarks in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Seoul are in the green this morning, while Japan’s Nikkei is down 1.2% at dispatch time. Stock markets are closed across France, Germany and Italy and the London Stock Exchange is also closed today. Trading floors at the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq will reopen after a three-day weekend. US stock futures were up slightly overnight, with futures for the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 all up a bit more than 0.3%.

US markets start 2Q after a strong start to the year: The S&P was up 10.2% in the first quarter, while the Nasdaq Composite added 9.1% and the Dow 5.6%.

EGX30

26,883

-2.5% (YTD: +8.0%)

USD (CBE)

Buy 47.15

Sell 47.28

USD (CIB)

Buy 47.15

Sell 47.25

Interest rates CBE

27.25% deposit

28.25% lending

Tadawul

12,402

-1.3% (YTD: +3.6%)

ADX

9,228

-0.4% (YTD: -3.7%)

DFM

4,246

+0.3% (YTD: +4.6%)

S&P 500

5,254

+0.1% (YTD: +10.2%)

FTSE 100

7,953

+0.3% (YTD: +2.8%)

Euro Stoxx 50

5,083

0.0% (YTD: +12.4%)

Brent crude

USD 87.00

+1.9%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 1.76

+2.6%

Gold

USD 2,230

+1.6%

BTC

USD 71,008

+1.8% (YTD: +68.0%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 fell 2.5% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 2.3 bn (54.5% below the 90-day average). Local investors were net sellers. The index is up 8.0% YTD.

In the green: Ezz Steel (+7.8%), Talaat Moustafa Group (+5.2%), and Elsewedy Electric (+1.5%).

In the red: Egypt Kuwait Holding (-6.7%), GB Corp (-6.7%), and Ibn Sina Pharma (-6.6%).

CORPORATE ACTIONS-

CIB will pay out a dividend of EGP 0.55 per share on its 2023 earnings starting 24 April, it said in an EGX disclosure (pdf).

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