{"id":597901,"date":"2019-05-08T02:53:12","date_gmt":"2019-05-08T02:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2019\/05\/08\/what-were-tracking-on-08-may-2019\/"},"modified":"2019-05-08T02:53:12","modified_gmt":"2019-05-08T02:53:12","slug":"what-were-tracking-on-08-may-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2019\/05\/08\/what-were-tracking-on-08-may-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"What we\u2019re tracking on 08 May 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Ramadan news slowdown continues this morning<\/b>, ladies and gents. Enjoy it while it lasts \u2014 the pace will inevitably pick up.<\/p>\n

Monthly inflation figures for April are due out tomorrow<\/b>. Annual headline urban inflation eased slightly in March to 14.2%, down from 14.4% the previous month.<\/p>\n

Amazon subsidiary Souq will rebrand in Egypt to become Amazon.eg next year<\/b>, Al Mal reports<\/a>. The e-commerce giant already rebadged as Amazon.ae in the UAE earlier this month<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/a> Asian stocks are <\/b>following US shares lower<\/b><\/a> this morning <\/b>after The Donald imposed a Friday deadline to reach a trade agreement. China\u2019s chief trade negotiator is heading to the US for talks Thursday and Friday with the threat of bns in additional tariffs hanging in the air. Almost 90% of NYSE stocks closed down yesterday<\/b><\/a>in a selloff that \u201ceclipsed the Christmas Eve rout\u201d back in December. That has some traders in Europe and North America thinking it\u2019s time to lock in their gains: \u201cThere is this little bit of fear that, OK, let\u2019s take what we\u2019ve got and not end up losing for the year, like everyone did at the end of the year last year,\u201d one told Bloomberg<\/a>. CNBC<\/a> speculates that the sell-down could accelerate if there\u2019s no trade pact by Friday and the Financial Times<\/a> joins the rest of the global business press in the hand-wringing.<\/p>\n

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<\/a> Investors including the guy who invented EM investing are concerned that Riyadh\u2019s involvement in the Tadawul may mask underlying political risks<\/b>, as FTSE Russell and MSCI prepare to include Saudi equities in their emerging-market indices, Bloomberg writes<\/a>. The kingdom\u2019s sovereign wealth fund is the biggest investor in the market, leading some to speculate that the government uses it to prop up equity prices during political turbulence. \u201cMany people are concerned about the political environment,\u201d Mark Mobius, founder of Mobius Capital Partners, told the business information service. \u201cIt\u2019s going to take a year or two before people really begin to say that Saudi Arabia is a place we want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is unlikely to stop a tide of inflows when the Tadawul joins EM indices:<\/b> Arqaam Capital estimates that inflows into the Saudi market could reach USD 20 bn after FTSE and MSCI finish their inclusions.<\/p>\n

EBRD\u2019s success in Egypt and Turkey could propel it into sub-Saharan Africa.<\/b> The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development\u2019s plans to expand its lending operations to sub-Saharan Africa<\/a> are partially propelled by its success in Egypt and Turkey, where it is \u201cclose to its share-of-portfolio limits,\u201d the Financial Times says<\/a>. EBRD President Sir Suma Chakrabarti says that doling out funding to the rest of Africa \u201cwould have to be based on evidence of where EBRD loans to the private sector could make a real difference.\u201d The plan will go before the lender\u2019s shareholders next year.<\/p>\n

Wait, Mifid II wasn\u2019t a panacea? <\/b>\u201cHelping small and medium companies access capital markets was at the heart of Mifid II but more than 16 months on, bankers and regulators are worrying that Europe\u2019s flagship securities-industry overhaul has become more of a problem than a solution,\u201d writes the FT<\/a>. It\u2019s part of a series of stories<\/a> out yesterday looking at how Mifid \u201cspoiled the business of matchmaking\u201d<\/b> between companies and investors<\/a> and at how the regulation is changing finance in the US of A<\/a><\/p>\n

Abraaj founder Arif Naqvi is still in the Clink, having failed to cough up the equivalent of USD 20 mn in bail <\/b>that would secure his release from detention pending trial or extradition, Bloomberg<\/a> reports. Naqvi was granted bail<\/a> on Friday under conditions that \u201ceffectively amount to house arrest.\u201d He was arrested last month on charges of fraud stemming from the meltdown of the once high-flying private equity firm.<\/p>\n

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Attention iSheep:<\/b> Apple will be unveiling a host of updates to the operating systems of the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV at its annual developer conference on 3 June, Bloomberg<\/a> reports. For once, Mark Gurman\u2019s report adds little to what we know about Apple\u2019s plans: Brazilian writer and software developer Guilherme Rambo has already broken what consumers can expect from the next editions of iOS<\/a> as well as macOS<\/a> and what\u2019s in store at WWDC for developers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Google, meanwhile, is out with a less-expensive alternative to its Pixel 3 smartphone. <\/b>The Verge\u2019s Dieter Bohn (one of our favorite gadget reviewers) says the budget-priced Pixel 3A is \u201ccompetitive with more expensive phones in one very important way: the Pixel 3A has a great camera.\u201d Read the review<\/a> or compare specs<\/a> between the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3.<\/p>\n

What we\u2019re tracking today, the Ramadan Edition:<\/b><\/p>\n

A pre-iftar reading list to kill time<\/b> between your post-workout shower and the breaking of the fast:<\/p>\n