Trading Preview: The Middle-East in Focus

Welcome back to another week of trading! You’re right on time, we’re just about to get started with another trading preview. This week, we’re going to dig into the Middle-East markets and look at a few stories hitting the news. Following that, we’ll give you our usual rundown of the most important events for your trading radar this week.

Bad news first…

Naturally, we wanted to cover the bad news first, then leave you with something a little more hopeful!

Fears of a second-wave hit airline recovery

The outlook for the airline industry continues to be pretty murky in the midst of fears of a second, potentially worse wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

Last week, Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker stated, “The worst is not behind any airline, not only Qatar Airways. There will soon be other bailouts in Europe, there will be other collapses around the world.” He continued, “…every single airline in the world will continue to lose money because there are no more passengers to carry.”

Qatar Airways has already posted a record loss of $1.9 billion for the 2019–20 financial year, largely due to the pandemic.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has also warned that the industry will burn $77 billion in the second half of this year and beyond, due to what may be a slow recovery.

Unbelievably, 43 commercial airlines have already gone bust so far this year, as the pandemic brings the industry almost to standstill. It’s particularly gutting when you consider that the sector had previously seen 10 years of unhindered demand and expansion, with the global air traffic base nearly doubling in that time.

Almost half of young Arab nationals want to bail-out

According to a new survey carried out by ASDA’A BCW, nearly half of the 200 million young Arabs in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have thought about ditching their country for foreign climes.

42% of young Arabs have considered jumping ship to another country. Pretty scary when you consider that 60% of the region’s population are under the age of 30.

The survey found that fixing government corruption was the highest priority for achieving progress in the Arab world. Job creation came in second on that list, with a gigantic 87% of the respondents concerned about unemployment.

20% of the respondents said someone in their family had lost their job due to the pandemic and 72% said COVID had made it more difficult to find a job.

The survey polled 4,000 young Arab nationals aged 18–24 from 17 Arab states in the Middle East and North Africa, with a 50:50 male female split.

Some good news, please!

Finally, we get to something a little more encouraging!

Are the Biggest Arab Economies Turning a Corner?

The Arab world’s three largest economies have finally seen some green shoots of recovery, with Egypt seeing its first expansion in 14 months.

Activity in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates in the non-oil private sector has seen an uplift over the past month, despite the backdrop of dwindling employment figures in the wake of the private-sector grappling with the pandemic.

Source: Bloomberg

This moderate recovery follows the crippling impact of COVID on the respective economies. The Middle East is also expected to have a comparatively longer recovery period as the region’s chief export, crude oil, is at a low due to decreased demand globally.

What’s on the global agenda this week?

It’s going to be short and sweet, this week. Here’s everything you can’t afford to miss:

Monday 12th October

No major events planned

Tuesday 13th October

● We’ll get an update on changes to the UK’s employment figures (GBP)

● The US will announce its Inflation Rate YoY numbers (USD)

Wednesday 14th October

No major events planned

Thursday 15th October

● Australia will reveal its employment figures (AUD)

● China is due to announce its Inflation Rate YoY results (CNY)

Friday 16th October

● The EU will follow the US and China’s lead and announce their Inflation Rate YoY numbers (EUR)

● The US will announce its Retail Sales MoM figures (USD)

Here at Contentworks we closely follow market movements and prep content that we think your traders would love to read. Let’s get you started right here.

Speak soon!

The Contentworks team