Decoding the Future of MENA Financial Markets, MENA Market Lab

Denis Collot

Decoding the Future of MENA Financial Markets

MENA Market Lab

Decoding the future of Middle East and North Africa Financial markets

Cross Asset Strategy

<ul><li>After the ultimatum, a 5-day pause or not. Kuwait, the government mandates KIA and the CB to raise funds.</li><li>Egypt, local banks raise $. GCC FX , quiet and stable.</li><li>Former President Bush declared shortly before the Iraqi war that it would cost 40bn $.</li></ul>

After the ultimatum, a 5-day pause or not. Kuwait, the government mandates KIA and the CB to raise funds.Egypt, local banks raise $. GCC FX , quiet and stable.Former President Bush declared shortly before the Iraqi war that it would cost 40bn $.

Asia L/S Equity PM/Macro/Thematic Idea Generation

Rikki Malik

Commodities

<ul>
<li>A review of recent events/data impacting our investment themes and outlook</li>
<li>High Oil prices start to filter into other sectors of the market</li>
<li>Pressure is mounting on US assets as financial conditions tighten</li>
</ul>


A review of recent events/data impacting our investment themes and outlook
High Oil prices start to filter into other sectors of the market
Pressure is mounting on US assets as financial conditions tighten


Technical Analyst, Vermilion Research

Joe Jasper

Technical Analyst

Technical and Quantitative Research

Vermilion Research

Vermilion’s objective is to deliver timely, actionable, and unique technical research to professional investors through the application of our various technical indicators.

Our research strategists seek to highlight securities which we believe are at major inflection points, based on our various technical and quantitative indicators, and offer asymmetric risk/return profiles. Our unique research methodology, centered on relative strength, enables our strategists to deliver superior investment recommendations.

Our process begins by organizing the universe of actively traded stocks into discrete sectors, then into industry groups. We then apply our technical and quantitative tools to identify developing price trends. Once attractive trends are identified within a selected sector or group, we screen for individual stocks which we believe offer the best risk/reward profile. We provide a historical perspective that often reveals, through our long-term charts, how price patterns often repeat themselves over time.

Technical Analysis

Financial Select Sector SPDR F / Technical Analysis

<ul>
<li>We will stay near-term bullish as long as crucial support levels of 6780-6824 on SPX and $255-$257 on IWM continue to hold. With that said, we continue to see deterioration...</li>
<li>...in market dynamics that has us concerned of a deeper pullback, potentially to 6720-6776, 6690, or 6480-6520 on SPX, but 6780-6824 support would need to break first</li>
<li>Financials (XLF) and Discretionary (XLY) are violating crucial price and RS supports, and we are downgrading both Sectors to underweight</li>
</ul>


We will stay near-term bullish as long as crucial support levels of 6780-6824 on SPX and $255-$257 on IWM continue to hold. With that said, we continue to see deterioration...
...in market dynamics that has us concerned of a deeper pullback, potentially to 6720-6776, 6690, or 6480-6520 on SPX, but 6780-6824 support would need to break first
Financials (XLF) and Discretionary (XLY) are violating crucial price and RS supports, and we are downgrading both Sectors to underweight


Defensives Still Leading; Deeper Pullback?; Downgrading Financials and Discretionary to Underweight

US Treasury (10 Yr Generic) / Technical Analysis

<ul>
<li>We maintain our near-term bullish outlook on SPX, Nasdaq 100 (QQQ), and Russell 2000 (IWM), which has remained in place since 4/22/25, aside from one week(11/19/25-11/25/25) when we went neutral.</li>
<li>We will stay near-term bullish as long as crucial support levels of 6824 on SPX, $610 on QQQ, and $245 on IWM continue to hold. Intermediate-term, still bullish above 6480-6520</li>
<li>SPX gap down (resistance at 6910-6940, Staples at 4-month RS highs, and more are giving us reason for caution in the near-term, though we still view pullbacks as a buy</li>
</ul>


We maintain our near-term bullish outlook on SPX, Nasdaq 100 (QQQ), and Russell 2000 (IWM), which has remained in place since 4/22/25, aside from one week(11/19/25-11/25/25) when we went neutral.
We will stay near-term bullish as long as crucial support levels of 6824 on SPX, $610 on QQQ, and $245 on IWM continue to hold. Intermediate-term, still bullish above 6480-6520
SPX gap down (resistance at 6910-6940, Staples at 4-month RS highs, and more are giving us reason for caution in the near-term, though we still view pullbacks as a buy


Reason for Near-Term Caution? 10Y Treasury Yield Above 4.20%; Upgrading Energy and Staples

<ul>
<li>The time is right to increase exposure to the Hong Kong market</li>
<li>A confluence of factors and catalysts will drive the index higher</li>
<li>We suggest a few names that we believe will benefit.</li>
</ul>


The time is right to increase exposure to the Hong Kong market
A confluence of factors and catalysts will drive the index higher
We suggest a few names that we believe will benefit.


Tactical Trading – Increasing Hong Kong Exposure

United States

The S&P 500® is widely regarded as the best single gauge of large-cap U.S. equities and serves as the foundation for a wide range of investment products. The index includes 500 leading companies and captures approximately 80% coverage of available market capitalization.

S&P 500 INDEX (SPX INDEX)

Middle East FX & Egypt, March 24th 2026,

After the ultimatum, a 5-day pause or not. Kuwait, the government mandates KIA and the CB to raise funds. Egypt, local banks raise $.

MENA Market Lab

Overview #53 – Second Order Effects

A review of recent events/data impacting our investment themes and outlook. We look at other stock market sectors benefiting from higher oil prices.

Rikki Malik

Defensives Still Leading; Deeper Pullback?; Downgrading Financials and Discretionary to Underweight

Defensives Still Leading; Deeper Pullback Coming?; Downgrading Financials $XLF and Discretionary $XLY $XRT to Underweight. Crucial support levels...

Vermilion Research

Reason for Near-Term Caution? 10Y Treasury Yield Above 4.20%; Upgrading Energy and Staples

Reason for Near-Term Caution? $SPX $QQQ 10-Year Treasury Yield Breaking Above 4.20%; Upgrading Energy $XLE $RSPG and Staples $XLP to market weight,...

Vermilion Research

Tactical Trading – Increasing Hong Kong Exposure

Now is an opportune time to increase investments in the Hong Kong market, as various factors are aligning to propel the index upward. We discuss...

Rikki Malik

Middle East FX & Egypt, March 24th 2026,

After the ultimatum, a 5-day pause or not. Kuwait, the government mandates KIA and the CB to raise funds. Egypt, local banks raise $.

MENA Market Lab

Overview #53 – Second Order Effects

A review of recent events/data impacting our investment themes and outlook. We look at other stock market sectors benefiting from higher oil prices.

Rikki Malik

Defensives Still Leading; Deeper Pullback?; Downgrading Financials and Discretionary to Underweight

Defensives Still Leading; Deeper Pullback Coming?; Downgrading Financials $XLF and Discretionary $XLY $XRT to Underweight. Crucial support levels...

Vermilion Research

Reason for Near-Term Caution? 10Y Treasury Yield Above 4.20%; Upgrading Energy and Staples

Reason for Near-Term Caution? $SPX $QQQ 10-Year Treasury Yield Breaking Above 4.20%; Upgrading Energy $XLE $RSPG and Staples $XLP to market weight,...

Vermilion Research

Tactical Trading – Increasing Hong Kong Exposure

​Now is an opportune time to increase investments in the Hong Kong market, as various factors are aligning to propel the index upward. We discuss...

Rikki Malik

Now is an opportune time to increase investments in the Hong Kong market, as various factors are aligning to propel the index upward. We discuss...