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It’s Fed day: The US Federal Reserve will announce its decision on interest rates later today following the end of its two-day policy meeting.
No cuts just yet: Economists expect the Fed to leave interest rates at their current 22-year high of 5.25-5.5%, writes the Financial Times. Economists are instead looking to the Fed to cut rates at their following meeting in March or further down the line — late spring to early summer. “I see no reason to move as quickly or cut as rapidly as in the past,” Fed governor Christopher Waller said in December. The central bank has repeatedly urged caution to bullish markets that have priced in interest rate cuts as early as March, insisting that more encouraging inflation data is needed before the central bank can consider reversing its tightening cycle.
Premature cutting could be dangerous: Economists optimistic that rate cuts are coming later in the year feel the US economy is strong enough to withstand higher rates for longer rather than risking price pressures bouncing back after a premature cut.
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TASI |
11,985.97 |
-2.2% (YTD: +0.2%) |
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MSCI Tadawul 30 |
1,561.48 |
-2.2% (YTD: +0.7%) |
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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 |
30,347.30 |
+3.8% (YTD: +21.9%) |
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ADX |
9,518.83 |
-0.3% (YTD: -0.6%) |
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DFM |
4,168.43 |
-0.1% (YTD: +2.7%) |
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S&P 500 |
4,924.97 |
-0.1% (YTD: +3.3%) |
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FTSE 100 |
7,666.31 |
+0.4% (YTD: -0.9%) |
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Euro Stoxx 50 |
4,662.70 |
+0.5% (YTD: +3.1%) |
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Brent crude |
82.87 |
+0.6% |
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Natural gas (Nymex) |
2.09 |
+0.5% |
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Gold |
2,054.00 |
+0.2% |
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BTC |
42,960.05 |
-0.4% (YTD: +87.5%) |
THE CLOSING BELL-
The TASI fell 2.2% yesterday on turnover of SAR 9.5 bn. The index is up 0.2% YTD.
In the green: Saudi German Health (+4.7%), Baazeem (+2.6%) and AlMunajem (+1.3%).
In the red: East Pipes (-10%), Arabian Drilling (-10%) and Ades (-10%).
CORPORATE ACTION
Al Jouf Cement’s BoD will vote on 19 February on filing a liability lawsuit against its former chairman and three former board members, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul yesterday. The lawsuit against the former chairman comes on the back of a SAR 10 mn fine against the company by the General Competition Authority in 2018. The BoD is accusing the former members of the board of resulting in a SAR 136 mn loss in an investment in Eastern Industrial Company through unauthorized transactions, alleged signature forging, misleading information on the investment and others.
