{"id":574984,"date":"2020-09-29T04:08:02","date_gmt":"2020-09-29T04:08:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2020\/09\/29\/what-were-tracking-on-29-september-2020\/"},"modified":"2020-09-29T04:08:02","modified_gmt":"2020-09-29T04:08:02","slug":"what-were-tracking-on-29-september-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2020\/09\/29\/what-were-tracking-on-29-september-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"What we\u2019re tracking on 29 September 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

Happy hump day, friends. <\/strong>Two more to go until we hit the weekend. In the hurly burly of business (to say nothing of the nuttiness that is covid and the travel restrictions that have accompanied it), it is easy to forget to be grateful. Grateful that covid-19 genuinely seems to have spared Egypt the ravages it has brought to other countries. Grateful, as we approach the four-year anniversary of the float of the EGP, that we have a functioning market for foreign exchange. Grateful that remittances are holding up remarkably after the doomsday predictions of this past spring \u2014 and grateful that rolling electricity blackouts have gone the way of the black market for FX.<\/p>\n

We have miles to go before we sleep<\/strong>, as Mr. Frost told us nearly 100 years ago, but it helps to keep things in context as you slog through that 2021 strategy presentation or the budget figures that back it.<\/p>\n

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Global stocks surged yesterday after weeks of nervy trading:<\/strong> European shares had their best session since June, with the pan-European Euro Stoxx closing 2.2% higher and the German DAX finishing 3.2% in the green. Across the Atlantic, bank shares led the S&P 500 to gain 1.6% in it\u2019s best day of trading in two weeks.<\/p>\n

But El Erian is here to tell us not to get too excited:<\/strong> The recent volatility in the stock markets should serve as a reminder to investors that record valuations are not indicators of a global economy achieving escape velocity from its historic contraction earlier this year, Mohamed El Erian writes in the Financial Times<\/a>. The stimulus high is wearing off, governments are reluctant to step in with new fiscal support, and the \u201cdeeply distorted\u201d nature of the markets makes it difficult to protect portfolios should another major sell-off occur.<\/p>\n

Either way, markets look interesting with the US on track for the biggest 3Q IPO wave <\/strong>since <\/strong>the height of the dot-com <\/strong>boom: <\/strong>Some 81 companies will have listed on US stock exchanges by the end of this month, raising around USD 28.5 bn and making 3Q2020 the biggest third quarter since 2000, MarketWatch<\/a> writes, citing RenCap\u2019s CEO Bill Smith. Secretive data mining firm Palantir and workplace collaboration software company Asana will both go public tomorrow in the first direct listings of the year.<\/p>\n

Asian shares are mixed <\/strong>in early trading this morning, while futures suggest Europe and Wall <\/strong>Street are on track to open in the green <\/strong>later today.<\/p>\n

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So, what\u2019s on the agenda for the rest of the week?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The country\u2019s mobile network operators are set to find out in the coming days <\/strong>who will be awarded new cellular frequencies<\/strong> in the wake of the auction organized by the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) earlier this month, Al Mal<\/a> reports, citing unnamed NTRA sources. The regulator earlier this month opened bidding for 40 MHz of bandwidth for USD 600 mn and another 20-MHz band for USD 300 mn. Vodafone Egypt and Telecom Egypt both submitted<\/a> offers in the sale, while Etisalat Misr and Orange Egypt sat it out.<\/p>\n

EFG Hermes\u2019 virtual investor conference <\/strong>will wrap up on Thursday. You can visit the<\/a>conference website here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Key news triggers as we approach the beginning of a new month<\/strong> \u2014 Thursday is the first day of October.<\/p>\n