KEY THEMES
Global markets are kicking off a very noisy week, with a great deal of speculation towards Tuesday’s U.S. presidential elections. US futures are currently trading unchanged, with a moderate decline on the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield. However, oil prices are down some 3-4% this morning, held back by renewal of lockdown measures across various countries in Europe.
Meanwhile, the EGX 30 went down moderately yesterday, amid average trading activity, as investors enter “spectator mode” to outcomes on the global front. Q3 2020 earnings season should also be on investors’ watch for November. Some companies already started to release some figures. Egypt Aluminum’s [EGAL] preliminary Q1 2020/21 figures showed narrower net losses y/y as lower electricity costs put a lid on gross losses. We calculate that, at the current FX rate, aluminum base prices need to edge over USD2,000/ton for EGAL to break even on a gross level.