It’s shaping up to be a big week on Planet Finance:

#1- It’s a huge morning for some investors in London-listed companies as the LSE rolls out new listing rules in what’s being portrayed as a victory for venture capital firms and sovereign wealth funds.

The changes: The new rules will allow companies to retain dual-class share structures that give founders and other early investors more voting rights than others. The UK Financial Conduct Authority is positioning the changes as the “biggest changes to the listing regime in over three decades.”

Why now: The LSE has lost listings (and seen outflows of investment) to other markets, the Financial Times notes.

Read for yourself: The full text of the changes are included in this policy statement (pdf).


#2- It’s shaping up to be a big week for central bank watchers as the monetary policy bosses of three of the world’s most advanced economies meet.

The US Federal Reserve will meet on Tuesday and Wednesday. Nobody expects the Fed to cut interest rates, but analysts think this is the pivotal meeting that will set them up to go for it in September, the Wall Street Journal writes.

Japan’s central bank meets on Wednesday, and the UK follows suit on Thursday. Traders are trying to figure out if the Bank of Japan will hike interest rates — and by how much the Bank of England will cut them, Bloomberg says.


ALSO WORTH READING on this fine Monday morning:

  • Apple Intelligence won’t be in the first version of iOS 18 when new iPhones launch this fall. Look for it to start rolling out in updates starting in October, Bloomberg writes.
  • The Financial Times has what the North Americans call a “twofer,” looking at why Donald Trump’s plan to devalue the USD to boost manufacturing and lower the trade deficit likely wouldn’t work — and writing that a close reading of the sheep’s entrails suggests that SPACs may be regaining a tiny bit of favor.

MARKETS THIS MORNING-

It’s green (almost) as far as the eye can see in Asia this morning. The Nikkei leads the gainers (+2.5% at dispatch time) and only the Shanghai Composite is in the red (-0.2%). Futures are uniformly in the green for major Wall Street and European equities benchmarks.

Tadawul

12,175

+1.2% (YTD: +1.7%)

MSCI Tadawul 30

1,525

+1.5% (YTD: -2.4%)

NomuC

26,5503

+0.3% (YTD: +8.2%)

USD : SAR (SAMA)

USD 3.75

USD 3.75

Interest rates

6.0% repo

5.5% reverse repo

EGX30

29,036

-0.2% (YTD: +16.6%)

ADX

9,318

+0.2% (YTD: -2.7%)

DFM

4,280

+1.0% (YTD: +5.4%)

S&P 500

5,459

+1.1% (YTD: +14.5%)

FTSE 100

8,286

+1.2% (YTD: +7.1%)

Euro Stoxx 50

4,863

+1.1% (YTD: +7.5%)

Brent crude

USD 81.13

-1.5%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 2.01

-1.7%

Gold

USD 2,428

+1.2%

BTC

USD 68,056

-1.2% (YTD: +60.7%)

THE CLOSING BELL: TADAWUL-

The TASI rose 1.2% yesterday on turnover of SAR 6.0 bn. The index is up 1.7% YTD.

In the green: Kingdom Holding Company (+10.0%), Miahona (+9.9%) and Saudi Manpower Solutions (+9.8%).

In the red: Almunajem Foods (-4.7%), National Company for Learning and Education (-3.9%) and Al Hassan Ghazi Ibrahim Shaker (-3.5%).

THE CLOSING BELL: NOMU-

The NomuC rose 0.3% yesterday on turnover of SAR 5.1 bn. The index is up 8% YTD.

In the green: Neft Alsharq (+14.8%), Balady (+6.5%) and Edarat (+5.9%).

In the red: Almuneef (-5.7%), Lana (-56%) and Mulkia (-5.5%)

CORPORATE ACTIONS-

Dallah Healthcare shareholders approved the distribution of SAR 49 mn in dividends for 1Q 2024 at SAR 0.5 per share, with the payout set for Wednesday, 14 August, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul.

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