Zoom sales growth slows as more people return to work

Zoom Video Communications sales growth slowed last quarter as the extra demand for remote work and the company’s video-conferencing application eased, along with a pullback in the Covid-19 pandemic.

The San Jose, Calif.-based company said its sales rose 35% from a year earlier to $1.05 billion for the three months ended Oct. 31. In the previous quarter, the company’s sales rose 54%. A year earlier, its sales jumped more than 360%.

ZOOM Cloud Meetings app is seen displayed on the phone screen in this illustration photo taken in Poland on April 6, 2020. (Photo Illustration by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images) (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Zoom’s net income for what is its fiscal third quarter rose more than 70% from a year earlier of $340 million. Wall Street analysts were projecting sales of $1.02 billion for the quarter and $337 million in net income.

Read More: https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/zoom-sales-growth-slows-as-more-people-return-to-work

Stocks mixed as Biden taps Fed’s Powell for second term

The Dow Jones Industrial Average tacked on over 17 points or 0.05% while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.32% and 1.26%, respectively after touching fresh record highs early on in the session.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
I:DJI DOW JONES AVERAGES 35619.25 +17.27 +0.05%
SP500 S&P 500 4682.94 -15.02 -0.32%
I:COMP NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX 15854.757354 -202.68 -1.26%

Large-cap tech stocks weighed on the Nasdaq including Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, while Apple maintained modest gains.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
AMZN AMAZON.COM, INC. 3,572.57 -104.00 -2.83%
GOOGL ALPHABET, INC. 2,926.04 -52.49 -1.76%
MSFT MICROSOFT CORP. 339.83 -3.28 -0.96%
AAPL APPLE, INC. 161.02 +0.47 +0.29%

With Powell at the helm for a second term, Biden also tapped Fed governor Lael Brainard as vice-chair. Investors took their nominations in stride as their prior working experience will likely represent continuity with monetary policy amid an ongoing effort to tackle inflation.

Read More: https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/stocks-rise-as-thanksgiving-week-kicks-off

CBE expected to keep interest rates on hold for eighth time in a row

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) is expected to keep interest rates on hold during its seventh periodic meeting this year, on Thursday.

The MPC periodic meeting comes amid strong market expectations that it will keep Egypt’s interest rates unchanged for the eighth time in a row, despite the rise in the inflation rate in the recent period, and there are expectations of a further rise in the coming period.

The MPC decided to maintain interest rates, for the seventh consecutive time, at its meeting on 16 September.  Overnight deposit and lending rates remain unchanged at 8.25% and 9.25% respectively, while main operation and discount rates remain at 8.75%. These are the levels reached in November 2019.

At the time the committee said that the basic interest rates at the Central Bank of Egypt are appropriate at present, and are consistent with achieving the target inflation rate of 7% (± 2 percentage points) on average during the fourth quarter of 2022 and price stability in the medium term.

Read More: https://dailynewsegypt.com/2021/10/27/cbe-expected-to-keep-interest-rates-on-hold-for-eighth-time-in-a-row/

Al-Sisi directs government to utilise Road of Rams reopening celebration to promote Egypt’s ancient civilisation

Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi directed the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled El-Enany to utilize the planned reopening ceremony of the Road of Rams (ram-headed Sphinxes Avenue) in Luxor to internationally promote the country’s soft power and ancient civilization.

This came during a Saturday meeting to follow up on the ministry’s projects, according to a statement from the Egyptian Presidency Spokesperson Bassam Rady.

During the meeting, El-Enany presented the position of the tourism movement during the current period, and the measures taken by the government to promote Egyptian tourist destinations to utilize the unique and diverse elements that Egypt possesses, especially with the start of the winter tourism season.

Read More: https://dailynewsegypt.com/2021/10/30/al-sisi-directs-government-to-utilise-road-of-rams-reopening-celebration-to-promote-egypts-ancient-civilisation/

Egypt is vitally important for expansion in emerging markets: Citibank

Citi sees Egypt as a very important and critical country among emerging markets, Rizwan Shaikh, Head of the EMEA Emerging Markets Corporate Banking at Citi has told Daily News Egypt.

Shaikh also said that, as a result, the bank is looking to invest to grow its business in the Egyptian market.

He noted that there is a lot of confidence in how Egypt’s government has managed economic, monetary, and fiscal policies through the novel coronavirus (ba-19) crisis. This confidence is reflected in the investor behavior, he added.

Meanwhile, Mohamed Abdel Kader, Citi Country Officer in Egypt, praised the role that the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has played during the COVID-19 crisis. He said that the Egyptian Government and the CBE have been carefully undertaking all efforts to keep the momentum of growth going in the country.

Read More: https://dailynewsegypt.com/2021/07/26/egypt-is-vitally-important-for-expansion-in-emerging-markets-citibank/

How would natural gas price rise affect industrial sector, stock market?

Egypt has increased natural gas prices for the industrial sector to $5.75/MMBtu, except for companies that calculate gas costs based on a formula tied to selling prices.

Stock market experts believe that while the gap between the future values (FVs) and current market prices is not wide, because stocks had initially failed to reflect the profitability spike, the market will not take the news well and stocks will be under pressure.

Al Ahly Pharos Research said that the only scenario that would save the upside potential for the industrial sector, in general, is that the government would utilize a formula-based gas cost, even if applied with a time lag. Technically, the Fuel Pricing Committee should look into gas costs every quarter. Accordingly, this is not a far-fetched scenario.

Read More: https://dailynewsegypt.com/2021/10/31/how-would-natural-gas-price-rise-affect-industrial-sector-stock-market/