KEY THEMES
Investors will be looking today at the market’s bellwether: CIB’s local shares [COMI] traded on the EGX and its corresponding GDRs [CBKD] traded on London Stock Exchange. COMI makes up more than 40% of EGX 30. How it will perform today will pretty much set the scene for the whole market as investors will be taking cue from its performance following a rather heated weekend of events. (Please read our view here on the events) While we are in the midst of the third-quarter earnings season, investors have put this in the backseat for now. What matters more today is the overall market sentiment than financial results. Meanwhile, we reiterate our risk-off stock picks that we have mentioned last week. Indeed, some of the stocks that we had picked last week continue to perform well despite the overall market sell-off. Leading the list is Ibnsina Pharma [ISPH] which is up 4.1% since Wednesday following its 17% stock dividend distribution. Interest is coming back to this stock which has been lagging. What remains to be seen though is whether or not natural gas prices will be lowered for the industrial sector and if so, when. This would make the difference for certain stocks like Ezz Steel [ESRS] and some fertilizer manufacturers.
Now, on to the top news and analysis for the day.