{"id":553443,"date":"2021-12-05T03:52:30","date_gmt":"2021-12-05T03:52:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2021\/12\/05\/this-morning-omicrons-world-tour-continues-the-markets-had-a-wild-wild-weekend\/"},"modified":"2021-12-05T03:52:30","modified_gmt":"2021-12-05T03:52:30","slug":"this-morning-omicrons-world-tour-continues-the-markets-had-a-wild-wild-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2021\/12\/05\/this-morning-omicrons-world-tour-continues-the-markets-had-a-wild-wild-weekend\/","title":{"rendered":"THIS MORNING: Omicron\u2019s world tour continues + the markets had a wild, wild weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, wonderful people, and welcome to the first full week of December. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Before we get underway, we offer our fellow grammar and typography nerds this break <\/strong>from the hurly-burly of year-end newsflow:<\/strong> Go watch Alexis Gay\u2019s homage to the em-dash (runtime: 1:00).<\/a> Use it wisely, young Skywalker.<\/p>\n

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

<\/a> Omicron has now landed in as many as 46 countries<\/strong>, according to a New York<\/a>Times tracker<\/a>, up from 38 on Friday. Chile became the latest country to report a confirmed Omicron case in a fully-vaccinated resident who recently traveled to Ghana, Bloomberg<\/a> reports.<\/p>\n

Early data shows that this strain is more contagious than the delta variant<\/strong>, but delta remains more dominant globally, Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO\u2019s covid-19 technical lead said, according toCNBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Omicron could have some of the genetic material from the virus that causes the common <\/strong>cold in humans<\/strong>, which might be the reason it is more infectious than other covid-19 variants, a study<\/a> from biomedical data analytics company Nference<\/a> suggests. The study, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, also suggests that the strain could be less virulent than other variants.<\/p>\n

Oh, and get this: Natural immunity isn\u2019t fantastically protective against Omicron<\/strong>, with a preprint paper out of South Africa suggesting that \u201creinfection is around three times more likely with Omicron than it was with other variants,\u201d Axios<\/a> reports.<\/p>\n

The most obvious feature of Omicron so far is how little we know for certain about the<\/strong> strain<\/strong>, Angelica Kutzi, the South African doctor who first detected the new strain, told Kelma Akhira\u2019s Lamees El Hadidi last night. It appears that individuals infected with the variant do not suffer from loss of taste or smell \u2014 and that the most commonly reported symptom is mild fatigue. Vaccinated individuals also report much milder symptoms than those who have not been vaccinated and no deaths have been reported thus far as a result of infection from the variant, Kutzi said (watch, runtime: 16:02<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The IMF is likely to react to Omicron by downgrading its growth forecast for the <\/strong>global economy<\/strong>, fund chief Kristalina Georgieva said on Friday, Reuters<\/a> reports. The lender said in October<\/a> that it expects the global economy to grow by 5.9% in 2021 and 4.9% next year, but the new covid variant has forced new travel restrictions and inflamed turbulence in the financial markets. That could force the IMF to revise figures downwards when it updates its outlook in January. \u201cA new variant that may spread very rapidly can dent confidence, and in that sense, we are likely to see some downgrades of our October projections for global growth,\u201d said Georgieva.<\/p>\n

WHAT\u2019S HAPPENING TODAY-<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s PMI day:<\/strong> Purchasing managers\u2019 index figures for November for Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar will be released this morning. Figures for the UAE, which normally come out on the same day as Egypt and Saudi, will be released this coming Tuesday, 7 December. You\u2019ll find the PMI here when it\u2019s out<\/a> \u2014 or go meet David Owen, the guy who builds the PMI<\/a>, who was our My Morning Routine feature this past Thursday.<\/p>\n

THIS WEEK-<\/strong><\/p>\n

Aldar \/ ADQ MTO subscription window wraps up this week:<\/strong> SODIC shareholders have three more days to respond to the mandatory tender offer submitted by the UAE\u2019s Aldar Properties and Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ. The Financial Regulatory Authority set the deadline for Tuesday, 7 December.<\/p>\n

The Central Bank of Egypt will issue USD 1 bn of one-year USD-denominated treasury <\/strong>bills on Monday<\/strong>, it said<\/a> Thursday. The auction will conclude on Tuesday. Egypt has sold some USD 5.1 bn of USD-denominated debt so far in 2021 across five issuances.<\/p>\n

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MARKET WATCH-<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a> Another volatile trading session on Friday capped a wild week in the markets<\/strong> as a poor US jobs report added to the turbulence caused by the resurgence of covid-19 and increasing hawkishness at the Federal Reserve. US tech stocks were particularly hard hit as sell-offs in Tesla, Facebook \/ Meta (now technically in a bear market after sliding 20% from its recent peak) and Adobe stock dragged the Nasdaq down almost 2% by the close of play. The Dow and the S&P 500 also saw red, with large intraday swings pushing the volatility index (VIX)<\/a> to its highest level since the Gamestop short squeeze<\/a> in January. Bloomberg<\/a> and the FT<\/a> have more.<\/p>\n

Crypto, meanwhile, fell to fresh lows yesterday. <\/strong>You can thank Omicron and jitters about inflation. Bloomberg<\/a>, Reuters<\/a>, and the Wall Street Journal<\/a> all have the story.<\/p>\n

Volatility isn\u2019t all bad news for policymakers in Egypt, though:<\/strong><\/p>\n

#1- The price of oil is now down almost <\/strong>20%<\/strong> from its peak in late October:<\/strong> Oil \u2014 the single-biggest item on Egypt\u2019s import bill \u2014 remained close to its recent three-month low on Friday and Brent fell as much as 5.7% on Thursday. The fall came as OPEC+ announcing on Thursday that, while it will go ahead<\/a> with plans to add another 400k bbl\/d to the market in January, the group will \u201cmake immediate adjustments if required\u201d should the spread of Omicron cause demand to weaken.<\/p>\n

#2- Wheat prices are finally falling back after soaring to record highs last month:<\/strong> Wheat futures had their worst week in three months, falling 4% last week due to concerns about Omicron\u2019s impact on the global economy. The market is still being supported by flooding in Australia \u2014 the world's sixth-largest wheat producer \u2014 and significant demand, Bloomberg<\/a> says. Egypt was a big buyer last week, taking advantage of the drop in prices<\/strong> by ordering 600k tonnes<\/a> in what was the country\u2019s biggest tender in years.<\/p>\n

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-<\/strong><\/p>\n

News triggers to keep your eye on:<\/strong><\/p>\n