Hala,
A painting bought for just $50 at a Minnesota garage sale may be a long-lost van Gogh! 🎨 LMI Group claims “Elimar,” originally dismissed by the Van Gogh Museum, is authentic, and could be worth $15 million!(1) 💰 Who knew garage sales could be this fancy? 😆
amana’s Take
- WTI crude rebounded to $73.20, shaking off recent losses as supply concerns resurface. The latest wildcard? Potential U.S. tariffs on Canadian and Mexican crude — though for now, it’s more rumor mill than reality.
- The February 3 meeting is set to be a market mover, with traders betting that the cartel will keep production steady. Any surprise shift in policy could send prices swinging, but for now, the consensus is “wait and see.”
- Between sanctions, strategic petroleum reserves, and shifting energy policies, oil markets remain as unpredictable as ever. One thing’s certain — volatility isn’t going anywhere.
Stock Market Update
📊🎢 U.S. stocks wobbled on Thursday, dodging bumps as investors dissected Big Tech’s latest earnings report from tech darlings like Meta and Tesla. The Dow climbed 0.38% to 44,882, the S&P 500 gained 0.53% to 6,071.17, and the Nasdaq 100 added 0.45% to 21,508.12.(2) Not a smooth ride, but green is green! 🚀📈
🏎️⛔ Most Gulf stocks hit the brakes ahead of more corporate earnings, but Abu Dhabi and Dubai managed to add 0.5% to 5,155 and 0.2% to 9,584, respectively.(3) ⛽💨
🎯📉 ECB’s Rock ’n’ Roll Rate Cuts!
The European Central Bank (ECB) has cranked the dial on its economic remedy with a fresh 25 basis point rate cut, taking it down to 2.75% to give the sluggish economy a much-needed jolt.(4) It’s like throwing a turbo boost into a car that’s struggling to climb uphill — only this car’s engine is the Eurozone economy, and the road ahead is as bumpy as a karaoke night gone wrong. With the threat that President Donald Trump’s administration will impose tariffs still lingering, the ECB is bracing for a ride that could get even more rocky before the dust settles. 🌪️💵
📊🎸 ECB’s Economic Jam:
- Rate Cut Groove: A 25-bps reduction to 2.75%.
- March Rate Cut Vibes: Another 25-bps expected, keeping things in a downward spin.
- Trade War Drama: The potential of tariffs hanging over like a sour note in an otherwise harmonious tune.
🔮🎤 ECB’s Rate Cuts: More on the Horizon
As the Eurozone’s economic growth falters like an out-of-tune guitar, the ECB is turning the dial to make sure things stay in rhythm. With inflation playing hard to get and the economy doing its best impression of a slow dance, there’s likely more rate cutting ahead. By March, we could see a further 25 bps cut, taking the deposit rate to 2.5%. But with global tariffs threatening to stir things up, the ECB’s decision-making might just turn into an encore performance of economic drama. 🎶🌍
Closer to Home
- 🏦 Dubai Financial Market wrapped up 2024 with a 15.5% revenue jump to AED 632.3M ($172M) — thanks to booming trades, strong inflows, and investors diving in.(5) Seems like the bulls had a great year. 🐂
- 📢 Nasdaq Dubai just landed MENA’s first corporate Blue Bond — a $100M issuance from DP World, with a 5.25% coupon rate, maturing in 2029.(6) A bold step from Dubai’s supply chain giant! 🚢
- 🐔 Saudi-based Arabian Company for Agricultural and Industrial Investment is serving up a 30% IPO on Tadawul — 9 million shares up for grabs! SNB Capital will handle everything as lead manager.(7) #NewIPO 💰
What Else Is Trending
- 🪙 Solana’s stablecoin supply hit $11.1B, surging 112% since January 1 and up 73% since $TRUMP’s memecoin launch. CCData says record DEX activity fueled the pump — because even crypto loves a market shake-up.(8) 🤑
- 🚀 Spot gold just hit a record $2,798.24 on Thursday, before settling at $2,794.42, up 1.3%, as U.S. tariff jitters fueled safe-haven demand.(9) Market jitters, meet gold glitter. ✨
- 🤖 Meanwhile, IBM surged 13% — its best day since 2000 — after reporting strong Q4 earnings of $3.92 per share on $17.55B revenue, beating estimates and AI-powered software gains.(10) Big Blue just got its spark back! 🤩
💬Quote of the Day
“We know the direction of travel,” — ECB President Christine Lagarde
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Sources:(1) UPI, (2) (10) CNBC, (3) (4) (9) Reuters, (5) (6) (7) Zawya, (8) Cointelegraph
