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Soft landing? The US economy has outpaced its European and Asian counterparts to represent the world’s best economic recovery from pandemic-era headwinds as the country averts recession and moves into a soft landing, the Washington Post reports. Fresh inflation data showed that the US hit its 2% target over the second half of 2023. Meanwhile, the country saw 3.1% growth over the past year.
What the US did right: The US government made hefty payouts in the wake of the pandemic, increasing spending in the form of loans to small businesses and unemployment benefits more than its European and Asian counterparts. The government allocated 25.5% of its GDP to soften the blow of the pandemic, compared to 15.3% in Germany and 9.6% in France.
Fiscal policy is key: The government’s fiscal policy could play a bigger role in shaping the outcome of future economic downturns, more so than the Fed’s monetary policy, said Claudia Sahm, a former Federal Reserves economist.
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TASI |
12,264.17 |
+0.8% (YTD: +2.5%) |
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MSCI Tadawul 30 |
1,597.33 |
+0.9% (YTD: +3%) |
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USD : SAR (SAMA) |
3.75 Sell |
3.75 Buy |
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Interest rates |
6% repo |
5.5% reverse repo |
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EGX30 |
28,625.76 |
+3.5% (YTD: +15%) |
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ADX |
9,567.68 |
-0.6% (YTD: -0.1%) |
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DFM |
4,163.33 |
-0.2% (YTD: +2.6%) |
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S&P 500 |
4,890.97 |
-0.1% (YTD: +2.5%) |
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FTSE 100 |
7,635.09 |
+1.4% (YTD: -1.3%) |
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Euro Stoxx 50 |
4,635.47 |
+1.2% (YTD: +2.5%) |
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Brent crude |
83.55 |
+1.4% |
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Natural gas (Nymex) |
2.71 |
+5.5% |
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Gold |
2,036.10 |
-0.03% |
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BTC |
41,921.90 |
-0.6% (YTD: +82.1%) |
THE CLOSING BELL-
The TASI rose 0.8% yesterday on turnover of c. SAR 7 bn. The index is up 2.5% YTD.
In the green: Aljazira REIT (+10%), BJAZ (+9.2%) and MBC Group (+7.5%).
In the red: Alhokair Group (-3.9%), Sinad Holding (-2.7%) and Cenomi Retail (-2%).
Major Asian benchmarks are largely in the green in early trading this morning. Futures suggest that stocks on Wall Street will dip at the opening bell later today, while major European benchmarks could open the day in the green.
CORPORATE ACTIONS-
#1-SARCO shareholders have elected eight new board members after dismissing the outgoing board for underperformance,the company said in a statement to Tadawul. The three-year term for the new members started on Thursday, 25 January. Shareholders also have also voted against the distribution of a dividend equivalent to 7.5% of the remaining profits from FY2022 and declined to pay SAR 780.5k to members of the outgoing board.
#2- Advanced Petrochemical will suspend operations at its propylene and polypropylene plants starting Sunday, 4 February, for scheduled maintenance, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul. The polypropylene plant will resume operations on Tuesday, 27 February, while the propylene plant goes back online on Sunday, 3 March.
#3- Sure Global Tech has appointed Al Rajhi Financial as its market maker for a period of 12 months, according to a Tadawul disclosure.
