A report released by HSBC Global Research on Tuesday titled “Middle East/Africa Banks US marketing feedback: what the buy-side thinks” discussed the outcomes of a series of meetings with US fund managers and investors, and their feedback on the markets of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The report provided feedback by country as well as key pushback to stock ideas provided by HSBC Global Research.
The meetings indicated re-emerging interest in several MENA banks, most prominently, Egyptian, Emirati, and Saudi Arabian banks, according to the report. The majority of the discussions involved the Egyptian market, while banks in Qatar were the least discussed.
During the conducted meetings, investors provided their points of view about the Egyptian banks as well as the recent devaluation of the Egyptian pound. Some predicted further upside to banks’ share prices in the case that the currency is floated, and the stock market liquidity returned to the banking sector from the parallel market.
The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) made the decision on 3 November to float the Egyptian pound and liberalise the exchange rate, leaving banks to set their own prices through inter bank mechanisms.
The price of the US dollar against the Egyptian pound continued to decline, recording on Monday EGP 15.25-15.32 for buying and EGP 15.75-15.85 for selling at several banks in the Egyptian market.
