{"id":551405,"date":"2022-06-15T13:38:08","date_gmt":"2022-06-15T13:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2022\/06\/15\/this-evening-gas-agreement-with-europe-signed-fed-decision-day-amid-crypto-crash-also-ecb-holds-emergency-meeting\/"},"modified":"2022-06-15T13:38:08","modified_gmt":"2022-06-15T13:38:08","slug":"this-evening-gas-agreement-with-europe-signed-fed-decision-day-amid-crypto-crash-also-ecb-holds-emergency-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2022\/06\/15\/this-evening-gas-agreement-with-europe-signed-fed-decision-day-amid-crypto-crash-also-ecb-holds-emergency-meeting\/","title":{"rendered":"THIS EVENING: Gas agreement with Europe signed + Fed decision day amid crypto crash. ALSO: ECB holds emergency meeting."},"content":{"rendered":"

The downpour of news continues today, ladies and gentlemen,<\/strong> and its good news on the domestic front. Apprehension over policymakers and their rate decisions, meanwhile, continue to guide the conversation abroad.<\/p>\n

<\/a> THE BIG STORIES TODAY-<\/strong><\/p>\n

#1- It\u2019s official <\/strong>\u2014 We\u2019re exporting more gas to Europe:<\/strong> Egypt, Israel and the EU have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to ramp up LNG exports to Europe, as the continent looks to phase out its reliance on Russian gas, according to an Oil Ministry statement<\/a>. The agreement will see Israel send more gas via a pipeline to Egypt\u2019s LNG facilities before exporting it on tankers to European shores. There were no details on how much gas we will be exporting to the continent.<\/p>\n

As for funding the expansion of our LNG infrastructure:<\/strong> The EU will also help Egypt and Israel increase gas production and exploration in their territorial waters, the Associated Press<\/a> reports, without providing further details.<\/p>\n

#2- <\/strong> Is the UAE\u2019s Aldar eyeing an MNHD acquisition?<\/strong> The UAE\u2019s Aldar Properties is reportedly eyeing an acquisition of a majority stake in EGX-listed real estate developer Madinet Nasr Housing and Development (MNHD), Bloomberg<\/a> reports, citing sources familiar with the matter. Discussions are still at an early stage, the sources said.<\/p>\n

Madinet Nasr has yet to receive any formal offers on the matter,<\/strong> it said in a disclosure to the EGX (pdf)<\/a> today. Madinet Nasr declined to comment when we reached out today.<\/p>\n

Shares in the company rose 7.3% to EGP 2.5 per shar<\/strong>e at the close of trading today.<\/p>\n

THE BIG STORIES ABROAD- <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a> ECB holds emergency meeting as Fed decision looms: <\/strong>The European Central Bank is holding an emergency meeting right now to discuss sellofs<\/a> of Southern European sovereign bonds on statements that it will take a more hawkish stance in subsequent monetary policy meetings. \u201cThe Governing Council will have an ad hoc meeting on Wednesday to discuss current market conditions,\u201d an ECB spokesman said ahead of the meeting. The spread between yields on 10-year Italian government bonds and those of German bonds (a widely followed metric to Eurozone watchers) fell to 2.2 percentage points today. The Wall Street Journal (paywall<\/a>) has the story.<\/p>\n

The move appears to have stabilized European stocks<\/strong> with the FTSE 100 gaining 1.31% and the DAX rising 1.29% as of dispatch.<\/p>\n

A<\/strong>nd all that before we hear word from the Fed on how it will raise rates:<\/strong> The US Federal Reserve\u2019s Federal Open Market Committee is planning to announce later today on whether it would move rates by 50 bps or 75 bps, with the market pricing in the latter. As we noted<\/a> this morning, US stocks fell further into a bear market yesterday and the bond sell-off continued as traders awaited the Fed\u2019s decision. The S&P 500 saw its fifth-straight day of losses, ending the day 0.4% in the red and extending its descent further into bear territory.<\/p>\n

Our own central bank is due to meet next Thursday, 23 June to discuss rates.<\/strong> Stay tuned for Sunday\u2019s EnterpriseAM to hear what our poll of economists has to say on where the wind will blow.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, BTC is continuing its downward spiral today, falling to a new 18-month low: <\/strong>BTC fell by as much 7.8% today to reach USD 20.3k \u2014 its lowest level since December 2020, reports Reuters<\/a>. BTC\u2019s performance this year has been disappointing to say the least, having lost over half of its value YTD. However, this week has seen a particularly bad sell-off for the crypto world<\/a>, with BTC losing around 28% since Friday and dragging down several other digital currencies with it. Crypto funds saw outflows of USD 102 mn this past week as investors worry over tighter central bank policy. Meanwhile, crypto companies such as Coinbase<\/a>, Binance, and Celsius<\/a> have taken exaggerated steps to try and weather the storm.<\/p>\n

Bill Gates<\/strong> once again gave<\/strong> cryptocurrencies and NFTs his stamp of disapproval<\/strong>, basically saying that they\u2019re nothing but a speculative asset with no real value during a climate conference yesterday (watch, runtime: 00:48<\/a>). \u201cObviously, expensive digital images of monkeys are going to improve the world immensely,\u201d Gates said sarcastically, adding that he isn\u2019t involved with cryptos. This isn\u2019t the first time Gates voices his concerns against cryptos, last year he warned against<\/a>BTC volatility\u2019s effect on smaller investors, as well as the environmental impact of energy-intensive bitcoin mining.<\/p>\n

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** CATCH UP QUICK<\/strong> on the top stories from today\u2019s EnterpriseAM<\/strong>:<\/p>\n