Tech stocks rode a high in September on Fed rate cuts + AI optimism: Tech equities in the US saw surging market caps last month, supported by the US Federal Reserve’s decision in late September to kick off its monetary easing cycle with a 50 bps interest rate cut and continued optimism around developments in AI, Reuters reports.

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Breaking with history: September is typically the worst month for US equity markets, a trend that has been largely maintained since 1950. Historically speaking, the S&P 500 “has generated an average monthly decline of 1.2% and finished higher only 44.3% of the time dating back to 1928,” Market Watch says, citing Dow Jones Market Data.

How top players fared: Oracle’s market cap rose 21.3% m-o-m at USD 472.2 bn as the company capitalized on growing demand for its AI-powered cloud services, with Meta also up 10% at USD 1.45 tn on the back of product unveilings. Automaker Tesla — which is sometimes considered as a tech player — also posted a 22.2% jump in its market cap to USD 834.4 bn, buoyed by record EV sales in China, and plans to roll out its full self-driving software to markets in Europe and China.

IN CONTEXT- The top five largest companies globally by market capitalization are tech or tech-related firms. Apple is at the top of the league with a market cap of USD 3.54 tn, followed by Microsoft (USD 3.2 tn), Nvidia (USD 3.0 tn), Alphabet (USD 2.05 tn), and Amazon (USD 2.0 tn). Saudi Aramco — whose USD 1.75 tn market cap places it in the sixth spot — and Walmart are the only two non-tech companies among the top 10 globally.

EGX30

31,333

-1.7% (YTD: +25.9%)

USD (CBE)

Buy 48.30

Sell 48.44

USD (CIB)

Buy 48.32

Sell 48.42

Interest rates (CBE)

27.25% deposit

28.25% lending

Tadawul

12,044

-1.7% (YTD: +0.6%)

ADX

9,307

-1.1% (YTD: -2.8%)

DFM

4,440

-0.8% (YTD: +9.4%)

S&P 500

5,710

0.0% (YTD: +19.7%)

FTSE 100

8,291

+0.2% (YTD: +7.2%)

Euro Stoxx 50

4,963

+0.2% (YTD: +9.8%)

Brent crude

USD 74.63

+1.5%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 2.89

-0.4%

Gold

USD 2,681

+0.4%

BTC

USD 60,874

-0.4% (YTD: +43.8%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 fell 1.7% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 4.3 bn (7.6% above the 90-day average). Local investors were net sellers. The index is up 25.9% YTD.

In the green: Elsewedy Electric (+6.5%), Palm Hills Developments (+2.7%), and AMOC (+2.5%).

In the red: Alexandria Container & Cargo Handling (-4.7%), GB Corp (-4.6%), and E-finance (-4.3%).

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