We can breathe a sigh of relief since the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central bank decided to leave the policy rates unchanged. Perhaps we may have seen the near term top of the interest rate range and the CB may start easing credit very soon in order to achieve the proclaimed economic growth targets for 2012 of over 7.0% .
The scandalous TFC share deal has now been resolved. Sampath Bank will be paid by the broker concerned who in turn will recover the money from the sellers after returning the shares sold to the NSB in a contra deal brokered by the SEC and the CSE. However the SEC, CSE and the Government may investigate this unfortunate incident further to bring to book those involved in this scandalous deal. SAMP share may recover this week.
As Euro Zone crisis gets worse the demand for petroleum products in the West is likely to fall sharply and most countries are likely to release to the market the stockpiles of crude that they built up in anticipation of a war situation in the Middle East. Crude oil prices in the global markets are expected to take a deep dip in the coming weeks as a result. This will drastically reduce our import bill if it materializes thus improving our Balance of Payments position.
Friday’s deep drop in the market brought the RSI’s of the ASI & MPI daily charts to 18 & 17 which are among the worst oversold levels seen after the end of the war.
US market remained weak on Friday with worries about the financial sector firms affecting the investor psyche after the JP Morgan fiasco that resulted in over a US$ 2 billion trading loss for the largest financial institution in the country. (pl. see the index charts attachment).