Did stocks fight back as Fed fights Inflation?

What’s new with Wealthface: Wealthface debuts in Saudi Fintech!

Tuesday, July 26th was an important milestone for Wealthface and the Wealthface community because it featured our first-ever participation in Saudi Fintech, which took place in the kingdom’s capital, Riyadh!

The Saudi Fintech Accelerator’s Demo Day was more than a ceremony that concluded with the graduation of 12 promising Fintech startups, including Wealthface. It was rather an important melting point of the combined efforts and innovations of startup Fintech players that would later shape the future of the industry and the business sector in general.

During the auspicious event, our team, led by Harvard Graduate CEO, Bilal Majbour, presented their pitch and business innovations to a group of esteemed and professional participants that have contributed to furthering the industry each in their own way: His Excellency the Governor of the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia, Dr. Fahd Al-Mubarak, and His Excellency the Chairman of the Capital Market Authority, Muhammad Al-Quwaiz, in addition to several influential figures including CEOs of banks, financial and investment companies, and entrepreneurs.

In that regard, we’re immensely proud of the Wealthface team, whose trip around the world has been quite a journey, spanning the U.S, GCC, Jordan, Turkey, and South Africa, and we’re glad that our efforts and innovations were recognized, this time, by another GCC member, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its people, who are leading the way in making Fintech history.

Fintech Saudi is just the beginning, though. Stay tuned for more Wealthface news, we’re just getting started!

International Market News: Stocks fight back!

The stock market was up this week as the Fed held its most recent meeting this year regarding interest rates. As expected, the Fed ended up raising interest rates by 0.75 pts, much to the disappointment of investors and consumers everywhere. This decision, however, didn't go unnoticed or hold back this week's momentum because the S&P 500 just had its best month since 2020. Nevertheless, the hike has garnered worldwide attention as to how major world economies are tackling soaring inflation levels.

?Earnings week continues

On a much brighter note, several companies posted their earnings report this week, with Meta, Alphabet, and Microsoft being one of the most prominent participants. The Facebook parent company reported less revenue than expected and even lost its much-valued position as one of the 10 top companies in the U.S, even after the company rebranded itself under its new name, Meta.

Stock market updates

We didn’t forget your weekly dose of market news!?

U.S stocks rallied to the highest level in 6 weeks this Thursday, with?the rally beginning on Wednesday, even though investors were taking in the Fed hike, a barrage of earning reports, and even not-so-promising GDP data.?

It's important to mention that this week Solar and other green-power stocks also rallied, including First Solar (FSLR), Enphase Energy (ENPH), Quanta Services (PWR), and NextEra Energy (NEE), while EV stocks, such as Tesla, rose modestly after congress approved the Inflation Reduction Act., which is set to speed the buildout of green energy infrastructure.

When it comes to the bigger picture, there is currently a consensus among economists detailing that the economy is rather slowing down. But don't let the word fool you- In that regard, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the economy is slowing but it’s still healthy by many measures! According to her, the slowing economy is needed to fight inflation, which reached its highest level in 4 decades.

Reason for the rally

Several economic drivers may have helped in this current stock rally. The main driver is believed to be the announcement of earnings reports as nearly 49% of S&P 500 companies have reported earnings through Thursday’s open. Let’s hope stocks rally in the coming weeks and end on an even higher note!

Source: Reuters

?GCC Market News: GCC markets will witness transformative changes!

GCC central banks respond

We've grown accustomed to the Fed raising interest rates these days and GCC central banks following suit, as the Fed’s decision does impact the worldwide economy, one way or the other.

?In that regard, the Central banks of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar raised their benchmark borrowing rates since their currencies are pegged to the US dollar, with the Central Bank of the UAE raising its benchmark base rate for its overnight deposit facility (ODF) by three-quarters of a percentage point and the Saudi Central Bank increasing its repurchase agreement (repo) rate by three-quarters of a percentage point to 3.00 percent and its reverse repo rate by a similar margin to 2.50 percent.

Neum and its $500 IPO are inching closer

The Saudi Crown Prince touched on Neum, the kingdom’s futuristic city that will include smart city technologies and even declared that the carbon-free city's IPO will take place in 2024.?

That’s not all, the kingdom is also planning to set aside $80 billion for the Neum Investment Fund, while the new city’s IPO is expected to add more than?

1 trillion riyals to the Kingdom’s stock market.?

If we’re being totally honest, we can’t wait for the debut of the sci-fi-style city, and we bet investors can’t contain their excitement!?

Source: Arabian Business

Weird Financial Facts: The number of major stock exchanges will shock you!

We’re sure you wondered about the number of major stock markets at least once in your life. Here's the answer: There are 17 in Asia, 2 in Australia, 17 in Europe, 9 in the Middle East, 5 in Africa, 5 in North America, and 5 in South America, according to current stock market statistics!

Source: Spendmenot

Things to look out for: More earnings reports, stock splits, and energy stocks!

?The earnings reports are still on a roll!

?Many major companies are due to announce their reports this week with Ford Motors, Pfizer, and Etsy being one of them.

?It's important that you keep an eye on these companies, especially if you're investing in these companies or already own some of their stocks!

?Upcoming stock splits

?The good news doesn't stop here, though. Several stock splits are due this summer.

?Tesla intends to implement a 3-for-1 stock split, which comes after its 5-for1 split last year. Now is the best time for investors to make up their minds concerning their Tesla stocks and the possibility of owning shares in the company.

Energy Stocks?

After Russia implemented the gas squeeze, the rationing of gas started in the European continent. After European countries agreed to a potential 15% reduction, retail investors are buying energy stocks at near record levels despite energy concerns that took hold of the world.?

Make sure to pay extra attention to these stocks next week!

Source: Cnbc

**About Wealthface**

Founded in June 2018, Wealthface is a one-stop-shop online investment platform based in the UAE that offers both passive indexing investment and factor investing services.

The company’s proprietary Robo-advice platform is developed in-house by a team of experienced quantitative analysts and based on advanced Nobel Prize academic research.

Wealthface aims to bring institutional investment solutions to every doorstep by facilitating the investment and trading process and offering modern Fintech services to a diverse range of investors, requiring no minimum knowledge about trading and offering a complementary solution to any other trading platform.

For more information, visit (https://www.wealthface.com/).

**Tel: +971 2 694 8501 /+971 50 964 1641**

**Address**: Office # 2434, 24th Floor, Al Sila Tower, Abu Dhabi Global Market Square, Al Maryah Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

P.o Box: 128666