{"id":574290,"date":"2020-09-06T03:51:30","date_gmt":"2020-09-06T03:51:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2020\/09\/06\/what-were-tracking-on-sunday-6-september-2020\/"},"modified":"2020-09-06T03:51:30","modified_gmt":"2020-09-06T03:51:30","slug":"what-were-tracking-on-sunday-6-september-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2020\/09\/06\/what-were-tracking-on-sunday-6-september-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"What we\u2019re tracking on Sunday, 6 September 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, friends, and welcome to the first full week of September<\/strong>, where the big question is suddenly: Is market sentiment turning negative after US stocks slumped on Thursday, setting off a wave of selling that swept developed markets from the US to Europe and Asia on Friday?<\/p>\n

The US selloff on Thursday was led by the same tech stocks that led the \u2018post-covid\u2019 <\/strong>rally<\/strong>, the Wall Street Journal<\/a> reports. The tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped nearly 5% while the S&P 500 lost 3.5%. Apple was the biggest loser of the session, seeing its market cap fall by USD 180 bn \u2014 the biggest single-day loss for a US-listed company ever. Another wave of selling on Friday saw the Nasdaq close down 3.3% for the week \u2014 its worst single-week performance since March, the Financial Times<\/a> notes. European shares closed the day down 1.1% on Friday, CNBC<\/a> says.<\/p>\n

Finger on the scale? SoftBank has played a huge role in the pandemic-defying equity <\/strong>rally:<\/strong> Masayoshi Son\u2019s SoftBank has ploughed bns of USD into US equity derivatives, fuelling the boom in tech stocks over the past few months, the Financial Times<\/a> reports. One US hedge fund manager described the trades as \u201csome of the biggest I\u2019ve seen in 20 years of doing this \u2026 the flow is huge.\u201d<\/p>\n

No dotcom meltdown 2.0?<\/strong> \u201cWe continue to think that tech stocks will fare less well than most other sectors as the economic recovery continues, we don\u2019t expect that a collapse in tech stocks will drag the entire market down for an extended period in the way that it did in 2000-02,\u201d said Capital Economics\u2019 Jonas Goltermann.<\/p>\n

The open question: What does the selloff mean for the many tech IPOs now in the <\/strong>hopper<\/strong>, including Asana, Palantir, Snowflake, Ant Financial and (quite likely) Airbnb?<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll see today how the EGX responds <\/strong>and European shares will follow suit tomorrow, but we\u2019ll have to wait until Tuesday to see what\u2019s in story for US equities: The NYSE and Nasdaq are both closed tomorrow<\/a> in observance of the US Labor Day holiday. Futures point to a dip at the opening bell.<\/p>\n

US benchmark crude futures also tumbled on Friday,<\/strong> dropping almost 4% to see oil post its worst week since June and close below USD 40 \/ bbl for the first time in a month, Bloomberg<\/a> reports. Saudi oil giant Aramco has cut prices of October shipments to Asia and the US<\/a>, indicating that the world\u2019s biggest producer is expecting demand to fall back in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

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<\/a> SAT and SAT Subject Tests have been canceled indefinitely in Egypt due to<\/strong> \u201cpersistent test security incidents,\u201d<\/strong> nonprofit organization College Board<\/a> \u2014 which develops and administers the SATs \u2014 announced in a recent email<\/a>. The exams will be canceled immediately through June 2021 at least, covering the remainder of the 2020-21 academic year. The decision follows repeated breaches<\/a> despite additional security measures, leading to numerous cancellations of SAT tests and results, College Board said. The SATs are required examinations for students applying for undergraduate university admission and scholarships, particularly in the US.<\/p>\n

CORRECTION- September 8, 2020<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that the announcement about SAT cancellations came from nonprofit organization ETS.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Education Minister Tarek Shawky confirmed the news<\/strong> during an interview with Ala Mas\u2019ouleety\u2019s Ahmed Moussa last night, during which he revealed that the exams were cancelled after the questions were leaked (watch, runtime: 25:22)<\/a>. The ministry has approved the ACT test for American diploma students, which can be taken instead of the SAT, he said, adding that the ACT is an electronic test which reduces the chances of it being leaked online (watch, runtime: 25:22)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Another blow to 2020 high school graduates: <\/strong>How will this impact the 2020 cohort of university applicants remains to be seen. 2020 IGCSE applicants have already seen exam cancellations followed by an international tussle over grading, with the value of their grades called into question, we reported last week<\/a>. Students, along with parents and teachers, have expressed concern that these grades might jeopardize their university prospects.<\/p>\n

Education will be a hot button issue this week as we should hear on Tuesday what the <\/strong>coming school year will look like <\/strong>for private national and public K-12 schools, Shawky said in a statement<\/a> last week. The announcement is expected to cover safety requirements, how tuition will be handled, private tutoring, and use of online platforms.<\/p>\n

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We\u2019re heading back to the polls this week:<\/strong> The remaining seats in the newly-constituted Senate will be decided in run-off elections taking place on 8-9 September. The first-round of voting last month saw 174 representatives elected<\/a> to the 300-seat upper chamber. The presidency will appoint 100 of the remaining seats, leaving 26 to be decided by this week\u2019s runoff.<\/p>\n

Other key news triggers coming up this month:<\/strong><\/p>\n