ECB to cut rates in June? The European Central Bank (ECB) will start cutting interest rates in June, Governing Council member Francois Villeroy de Galhau told French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche over the weekend. “Bar a surprise, we should decide on the first cut at our next meeting on 6 June … Our cut early June will have to be followed by other cuts by year-end,” he said.

Where rates currently stand: The ECB kept rates unchanged when it met last Thursday, keeping the deposit rate at a record 4% in place since September.

Meanwhile in the US, June cuts are looking less likely: Traders have ruled out the Federal Reserve slashing rate over the summer — some have penciled in mid-September for when the Fed will start cutting rates, while some don’t see the Fed cutting rates at all this year, Reuters reports. This came in response to March’s inflation data coming in hotter than expected — consumer price inflation rose 3.5% y-o-y up from 3.2% the month before.

THE MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Major Asian benchmarks are all substantially in the red this morning, following Wall Street’s lead: Korea’s Kospi is off 2.1%, the Nikkei is down 1.6%, and the Hang Seng has lost 1.2%. The Shanghai composite is fairing a bit better — it’s off just 0.8% after China reported its economy grew 5.3% in 1Q 2024, beating expectations.

European and US stock futures are largely unchanged but point to a lower opening later today.

TASI

12,708

+0.3% (YTD: +6.2%)

MSCI Tadawul 30

1,610

-0.3% (YTD: +3.8%)

NomuC

26,549

+0.6% (YTD: +8.2%)

USD : SAR (SAMA)

3.75 Buy

3.75 Sell

Interest rates

6.5% repo

5.5% reverse repo

EGX30

29,616

+3.9% (YTD: +19%)

ADX

9,254

+0.2% (YTD: -3.4%)

DFM

4,244

-0.01% (YTD: +4.5%)

S&P 500

5,062

-1.2% (YTD: 6.1%)

FTSE 100

7,966

-0.4% (YTD: +3%)

Euro Stoxx 50

4,984.5

+0.6% (YTD: +10.2%)

Brent crude

90.2

-0.3%

Natural gas (Nymex)

1.7

-4.5%

Gold

2,401

+1.1%

BTC

64,602.8

+0.6% (YTD: +54%)

THE CLOSING BELL: TADAWUL-

The TASI rose 0.3% yesterday on turnover of SAR 9.7 bn. The index is up 6.2% YTD.

In the green: Saudi Cable (+9.9%), Chemical (+7.6%) and Salama (+7.2%).

In the red: Tadawul Group (-2.7%), Solutions (-2.3%) and Zoujaj (-2.2%).

THE CLOSING BELL: NOMU-

The NomuC rose 0.6% yesterday on turnover of SAR 103.7 mn. The index is up 8.2% YTD.

In the green: AlBabtain Food (+9.5%), Amwaj International (+8.6%) and Meyar (+5.6%).

In the red: Raoom (-7.7%), AlMohafaza (-4.7%) and Al Naqool (-3.7%)

CORPORATE ACTIONS-

Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden)’s BoD recommended a 5.7 mn share buyback, to be allocated to its employee stock ownership program, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul.

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