Tuesday, February 16, 2016Jumada I 7, 1437 AH

BUSINESSGULF TIMES

HSBC keeps headquarters in London

Qatar shares top Gulf gains on buy support

UK BOOST | Page 142-DAY RALLY | Page 3

Woqod net profi t scales up 11% to QR1.25bn in 2015 Qatar Fuel (Woqod) has post-

ed a net profi t of QR1.25bn in 2015, up 11% on the previ-

ous year, the company said yester-day. Woqod had earned a net profi t of QR1.13bn in 2014.

The company’s 2015 fi nancial re-sults were announced after a meet-ing of its board of directors chaired by chairman Sheikh Saoud bin Ab-dulrahman al-Thani.

Woqod’s total shareholder equi-ty reached QR7.2bn in 2015, which shows an increase of QR222mn, or 3.2%, on the same period last year, said CEO Ibrahim Jaham al-Kuwari.

Earnings per share (EPS) amounted to QR14.84 in 2015 com-pared with QR13.41 last year.

Al-Kuwari said Woqod was cur-rently involved in the implementa-tion of many projects, which were either under construction, tender-ing, designing or approval stages. These projects include new fuel stations, expansions, Fahes centers, Sidra C-Stores and Bitumen facili-ties among others.

He said eight fuel stations were completed in 2015. These are lo-cated at Al Wajba, Al Jumailia, Lak-teefi a, Al Wakrah, Al Thakeera, Ben Dirham, Al Rayyan and Al Musa-habia.

Some 18 fuel stations are cur-rently under construction and are expected to be inaugurated this year. These will be located at Al Muntazah, Meshaireb North, Al-Ghanim Qadeem, Lusail, Al-Thameed, Hamad International Airport, Doha Airport, Al-Bisat Al-Akhdar, Sudanatheel, Abu Na-khlah, Ain Sinan, Madinah Shemal, Al Khor, Semaisemah, Al Wakrah South, Al Wukair, Al-Mashaf and

Wadi Aba Saleel. Six petrol sta-tions are in the design and approval stages at Medinah Lusail 1, Al Thu-mama, Al Karaanah, Um Karn, Ras Laff an and Al Mazrooah. These projects will be completed either this year or in 2017.

Al-Kuwari said some 29 loca-tions are currently under review with the Ministry of Municipality & Environment for Woqod’s future projects. These projects will cover

new areas such as the South Motor-way and Doha Express Road.

Five other projects are currently being taken up at Wadi Al Banat, West Bay, Al Seylieh, Mesaimeer West, and Al Gharrafa. The com-pletion of these projects is expected by end-2016.

Five new Fahes (vehicle inspec-tion centres) are in the design stages and expected to be commissioned this year. These will be located at Al

Sheehaniya, North City, Al Khor, Al Mazrooah and Al Wakrah.

Two Fahes inspection centres were inaugurated last year at Me-saimeer and Al Wakrah.

Al-Kuwari said Woqod’s LPG sales grew by 9.6% last year. The number of cylinders “refi lled and sold” reached 5.15mn (metal) and 1.88mn (Shafaf 12kg) and 45,000 (Shafaf 6kg).

He said Woqod in association with QP planned to establish some seven more compressed natural gas (CNG) stations by 2017.

Last year, the total sales of pe-troleum products (diesel, gasoline and jet fuel) reached 8.34mn litres, which shows an increase of 14.9% compared with 2014.

Woqod also provides lease serv-ices of diesel tanks and diesel trans-port vehicles (with/without driver) to both business and individuals.

Shell CEO expects output in Brazil to quadruple by 2020 ReutersRio de Janeiro

Royal Dutch Shell, Europe’s largest oil company, expects to make robust investments

in Brazil’s off shore, hoping to quad-ruple oil and gas output there by the end of the decade, its chief executive offi cer said yesterday.

CEO Ben Van Beurden spoke in Brazil shortly after Shell’s $52bn takeover of rival BG Group, ap-proved in late January, took eff ect.

He said Brazil will be a key area for the Anglo-Dutch company as it focuses its expanded operations in liquefi ed natural gas (LNG) and deepwater oil production.

“We believe in the strong fun-damentals of Brazil and the funda-mentals of its geology,” Van Beurden told reporters in Rio de Janeiro. “We will be looking at a substantial part of our production from Brazil.”

By adding BG’s large Brazilian off shore assets, Shell’s local output rose sixfold to about 240,000 bar-rels of oil and natural gas equivalent

a day (boepd), or 13% of its total of 1.8mn boepd.

A quadrupling of its Brazilian output would boost production to nearly 1mn boepd by 2020. Shell is already Brazil’s No 2 producer after state-led Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or

Petrobras. In December, Shell and BG had 7.6% of Brazil’s total output of just over 3mn barrels a day.

The BG takeover also makes Shell the world’s largest trader of LNG. While it sells LNG to Petrobras for the Brazilian market, Van Beurden

and his Brazilian deputy, Andre Araujo, declined to say if they want to buy Petrobras’ natural gas assets, some of which are for sale.

Brazil’s importance to Shell is ex-pected to increase as it moves ahead with giant subsalt projects such as Libra, which it is developing with Petrobras, France’s Total SA, Chi-na’s CNOOC, and CNPC.

Subsalt refers to large hydrocar-bon resources trapped deep beneath the seabed by a layer of mineral salts. Libra may hold as much as 12bn bar-rels of recoverable oil, according to Brazil’s government.

Shell faces serious challenges in Brazil. Oil prices have plunged since the BG deal was announced a year ago. Petrobras, Shell’s principal partner in the country, is in serious fi nancial and legal diffi culty after the price drop and a massive price-fi xing, bribery and kickback scan-dal.

Van Beurden, though, said subsalt areas should be able to break even at oil prices forecast for this year, without saying what those prices might be. Page 16

IATA FORECAST : Page 16

Airline industry to generate $700bn in GDP, 33mn jobs in Asia-Pacifi c this year

Aamal 2015 profit gain tops 9% to QR656.7mn Aamal Company has reported more than

9% jump in net profit to QR656.7mn in 2015

mainly due to strong earnings from industrial

manufacturing and trading businesses.

“Aamal has delivered an exceptional perform-

ance in 2015; revenue has grown by almost

35% which when combined with an expan-

sion in the underlying margin, has led to net

profit before fair value gains on investment

properties rising by almost 50%,” chairman

Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim al-Thani said.

Highlighting that its clear strategy has

allowed it to achieve sustained growth by

optimising existing business operations and

create new revenue streams; he said these

results “demonstrate clearly the resilience of

our business model - diversified not just to

minimise risk but also positioned to take ad-

vantage of structural growth opportunities.”

The group revenues shot up to QR2.88bn,

largely on account of faster expansion in

income from its industrial manufacturing and

property division.

“Aamal has continued to grow and indeed

prosper in line with its growth strategy. We

occupy a number of market leading positions

in a range of sectors across Qatar’s economy

that are in various stages of structural, rather

than cyclical, growth; furthermore, we are

very well capitalised and have the financial

strength to continue to pursue suitable

opportunities as and when they arise,” its

vice chairman Sheikh Mohamed bin Faisal

al-Thani said.

Net profit for the industrial manufacturing

division more than doubled to QR126.4mn,

driven by “significant” revenue growth of

about 55% (to QR1.75bn) and significant

margin expansion to 4.8%, previously 3%, a

company spokesman said.

The stand-out performers were Senyar

Industries, Doha Cables in particular, winning

several high profile and profitable contracts

as infrastructure project building in Qatar

continued apace.

Strong performances were registered by

Aamal Readymix and Ci-San, both also

beneficiaries of the continuing investment in

infrastructure.

Aamal Readymix, focusing on the supply of

high grade concrete, far exceeded its produc-

tion targets and was honoured the “GCC 2015

Annual Business Excellence Award” as a best

supplier from one of the leading projects in

Qatar in recognition of exceptional service

and quality.

Ci-San was bolstered further by the setting-

up of a new subsidiary (Aamal Maritime for

Transportation Services) in September 2015

to ship consignments of aggregates to Qatar.

Net profit for the trading and distribution

division rose 28% to QR147.2mn, principally

due to a 3.1 percentage point improvement in

the net margin to 18.9%, and revenue growth

of 7% to QR779.4mn.

“The principal factors behind this significant

margin expansion were an expanding prod-

uct line to fulfil growing market demands

alongside the wider geographical coverage

of our distribution footprint,” the spokesman

said.

Underlying net profit for the property divi-

sion (excluding fair value gains on invest-

ment properties) grew 20% to QR268.7mn

year on year, due to a combination of rev-

enue growth of almost 13% (to QR325.7mn)

and significant expansion in the margin to

82.5% (2014: 77.3%).

This very strong performance was driven by

annual rental increases throughout the year,

combined with benefits that still continue to

accrue from Phase 1 of the redevelopment of

the flagship City Center Doha shopping mall.

Fair value gains on investment properties

for the year were down at QR135.4mn (2014:

QR 251.7m), in line with the hiatus in the

redevelopment of City Center Doha (Phase

1 completed end-2013; Phase 2 permission

received December 2015, expected comple-

tion date of 2018).

Net profit for the managed services division

fell just over a third to QR5.5mn, mainly on

steep decline in margins to 8% (2014: 12.9%),

a reflection of an increasingly competitive

environment in this space; even as revenues

were up 7% (to QR68.5mn)

“Aamal has performed very well in 2015, with

underlying profits rising significantly. What

is extremely pleasing is that it has been a

very healthy combination of both revenue

growth and margin expansion, matched by

an equally impressive cash flow,” according

to Tarek M El Sayed, managing director of

Aamal. Aamal has extremely low gearing,

at just 3.8%, which positions the business

strongly to grow further both organically and

through acquisition opportunities which may

become available, he said.

Sheikh Faisal : Market leading positions.

Sheikh Saoud (left) and al-Kuwari: Continuous expansion.

Board recommends cash dividend, bonus shares

Woqod’s board of directors has recommended to the company’s General Assembly to distribute cash dividends to shareholders at the rate of 82% of the value of the paid-up nominal capital, which translates into QR8.2 a share.

Additionally, the board has recommended 8% bonus shares, which work out to eight shares per 100 outstanding shares. The company’s General Assembly is slated to meet on March 6.

Gas prices are shown at a Shell station in Encinitas, California (file). Royal Dutch Shell has surpassed Chevron Corp as the world’s second-biggest non-state oil company after completing the acquisition of BG Group. It raises Shell’s market capitalisation to $177bn and adds new assets in Australia and Brazil that give it more flexibility to ride out a downturn, Barclays said, according to Bloomberg. Exxon Mobil remains the world’s most valuable oil company with a market value of $337bn, almost twice as big as Shell.

Shell surpasses Chevron to become No 2 oil company

Ben Van Beurden, chief executive off icer of Royal Dutch Shell, speaks during a news conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil yesterday. He said Brazil will be a key area for the company as it focuses its expanded operations in liquefied natural gas (LNG) and deepwater oil production.

BUSINESS

Gulf Times Tuesday, February 16, 20162

Defying slump, Iran stocks soar on sanctions relief ReutersDubai

A leap by the Tehran stock market in the past four weeks contrasts with gloom in many bourses

around the world and hints at Iran’s investment potential as its economy, long isolated by sanctions, rejoins the global trading system.

The TEDPIX index has soared 18.3% since January 16, when the sanctions were lifted after an international deal on Iran’s nuclear programme. Average daily trading turnover has tripled from last year to around $150mn.

The economy is still struggling - growth is close to zero, the jobless rate exceeds 10% and many banks face mountains of bad debt. Political ten-sions between hardliners and moder-ates could slow eff orts to address these problems.

As a result, some commentators are warning that the notoriously volatile market may not hold on to its gains.

“The Tehran bourse is disregarding warnings and the condition of world markets ... It is going down the same road as in 2015, the result of which will only be a lack of confi dence and the fl ight of capital from this market,” the conservative Nassim news agency said in a commentary last week.

But many investors are betting that by restoring Iran’s links with the rest of the world and attracting foreign capital and technology, the end of sanctions will trigger a long-term economic boom.

“The actual benefi ts of the lifting of sanctions will take six to 12 months to start to feed into companies’ fi nancials,” said Payam Malayeri, head of asset man-agement at Griff on Capital, a Tehran-based fi rm which last month launched an off shore equity fund focused on Iran.

“Investors are discounting that now - they are looking ahead to corporate earn-ings growth in 2017 and 2018.”

Some economists think Iran’s gross domestic product could grow 5% to 6% annually in the next several years. That would boost corporate earnings 15%-25% a year, Malayeri estimated. Also, dividend yields are high at around 12%.

So far, auto stocks have led the rally because of prospects for tie-ups with foreign fi rms; Iran Khodro, which an-nounced a 50/50 venture to build cars with Peugeot, has rocketed 52%. Phar-maceutical and engineering shares have also surged; banks and petro-

chemicals have underperformed. Al-most all new buying of stocks has been by local retail investors. Most foreign-ers remain cautious and while sending money into Iran has become easier, full international banking ties have not yet been restored.

But foreign fund infl ows are pick-ing up. Ramin Rabii, chief executive of Iranian investment group Turquoise Partners, which manages most foreign portfolio investment on the Tehran exchange, estimated $10mn-$20mn had entered in the past three months, bringing the total outstanding near $100mn.

“We may see $100 to $200mn of fresh foreign money in the next 12 months,” Rabii said. That would still be tiny compared to the market’s capi-talisation, equivalent to $94bn at the free market exchange rate, but it would begin to establish foreign investors as a signifi cant force.

There is plenty of risk. Debts in the banking sector, red tape and restrictive labour laws may slow any economic boom.

Initially, some companies or sectors could actually suff er as the lifting of sanctions exposes them to more com-petition. Renaissance Capital says steel

producers’ profi t margins may shrink as imports of cheap metal increase.

Another risk is that reforms to im-prove the business climate could be stalled by political feuding between supporters and conservative oppo-nents of pragmatic President Hassan Rouhani. A conference in London this month to unveil new Iranian contract terms for foreign oil companies was cancelled after internal clashes among offi cials over the contracts.

In an apparent eff ort to reassure investors that the uptrend in equity prices is justifi ed, Finance Minister Ali Tayyebnia visited the exchange on Sunday and spoke positively about the market’s gains.

But there are in any case some pow-erful factors supporting the bourse’s uptrend. Under many ways of valuing stocks, Iranian equities are still cheap by international standards.

The market is trading at 7-7.5 times this year’s projected corporate earn-ings - above its long-term average of 6 times, but well below 11 times for the world’s frontier markets, Rabii said. With Iran now part of the global econ-omy, valuations may come closer to in-ternational levels.

Meanwhile, falling bank deposit rates could push billions of dollars into stocks, Malayeri said. Deposit rates soared in the sanctions era, when in-fl ation was high and the rial weak; authorities have begun guiding them down from above 20%.

Rabii said ineffi ciencies and distor-tions of the sanctions era had left pock-ets of value in the stock market which both local and foreign investors would exploit in coming years.

“You could buy a cement plant by acquiring a company for a third of the cost of building one from scratch,” he said. “This is the kind of thing which will attract foreign investment.”

Flags displaying Nakheel brand fly near the Marina Harbor development on Dubai World’s Palm Jumeirah island in Dubai in this photo dated April 8, 2010. Dubai property developer Nakheel is seeking to borrow 5bn dirhams ($1.4bn) from banks, sources aware of the matter said, in what would be its first attempt to raise sizeable debts since it almost collapsed at the turn of the decade. Nakheel, at the centre of a debt crisis in Dubai in 2009 after a crash in real estate prices, is in talks with a small group of banks regarding the financing, the sources said, adding talks were at a preliminary stage. The state-owned developer, whose flagship Palm Jumeirah project ranks as the world’s biggest man-made island, has asked banks to provide it with prospective pricing if it borrowed for eight- to 10-year terms, said two of the sources, who declined to be identified as the information is private. The company declined to comment on the loan talks. Nakheel will use the funds for construction projects, one of the sources said.

Nakheel seeking 5bn dirhams loan from banks

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Q4 profit jumps 16.6%, raises dividend CORPORATE RESULTS

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) has posted a 16.6%

rise in fourth-quarter net profit, and marginally

increased its dividend for 2015.

The earnings were part of mixed fourth-quarter

results for UAE banks, with Emirates NBD and Dubai

Islamic Bank posting bumper profit growth while

National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Mashreq and Union

National Bank saw profits fall.

ADIB, Abu Dhabi’s largest Shariah-compliant bank,

made a net profit of 477.4mn dirhams ($130mn)

in the three months to December 31, compared to

409.6mn dirhams in the same period a year ago, it

said in a bourse statement.

Beltone Financial had forecast the bank would

make a profit attributable to shareholders of

399mn dirhams in the quarter.

For 2015, the bank said its net profit was 1.93bn

dirhams, up 10.5% from 2014.

Customer financing for loans totalled 78.4bn

dirhams at the end of last year, up 7.4% from a year

earlier, while customer deposits grew to 94.9bn

dirhams, up 12%.

However, the bank remains cautious about growth

in 2016 because of competitive pressures on credit

spreads. “We continue to forecast modest new cus-

tomer financing growth...” Tirad al-Mahmoud, chief

executive of ADIB, said in the statement.

The bank booked loan impairments of 249.3mn

dirhams in the fourth quarter, up 39.5% over the

same quarter in the previous year.

ADIB’s board has proposed paying a cash dividend

of 24.27% for 2015, the statement added, equivalent

to 0.2427 dirham per share. The bank paid a divi-

dend of 0.2334 dirham per share for 2014.

Dana Gas

UAE-based energy firm Dana Gas swung to a

$134.2mn profit in the fourth quarter, as a one-time

contribution from an arbitration process helped

off set the global downturn in energy prices.

Dana made a net profit of $134.2mn in the three

months to December 31, compared with a loss of

$4mn in the prior-year period, Reuters calculated,

based on the firm’s full-year earnings statement in

lieu of a quarterly breakdown.

Dana Gas reported falling profits in the first and

second quarters and a loss in the third quarter of

2015, hit by oil prices. Its chief executive, Patrick

Allman-Ward, warned in November after reporting

the third-quarter loss that the final three months of

2015 would be “similarly challenging”.

However, the company said in a statement it re-

ceived cash later that month from RWE settling an

arbitration which transferred a 5% interest in Pearl

Petroleum Company. It didn’t disclose the cash

amount received.

RWEST Middle East, a unit of the German energy

firm, agreed to join the Pearl Petroleum group,

which reduced the stakes of both Dana Gas and

Crescent Petroleum from 40% to 35%, following

a London arbitration process initially begun in

December 2010.

The cash also helped to boost its annual profit for

2015 to $144mn, up from $125mn in the previous

year. The tumble in crude prices since a June 2014

peak and a 15% decline in production from Egypt

contributed to a 39% fall in 2015 gross revenue to

$417mn, the statement said.

Like oil companies around the world, Dana has

been cutting costs to adapt to lower prices. It has

previously announced it would cut general and

administrative expenses by 55% in 2016 and operat-

ing expenses by a smaller amount.

However, Allman-Ward added in yesterday’s state-

ment that it expects higher production levels and

resulting cash flows, particularly in Egypt and also

in the UAE with the anticipated start-up of the Zora

Field. Egypt still owes Dana $221mn as of December

31, as well as $727mn in the Kurdistan region of Iraq,

according to the statement.

‘Sigma to launch Egypt’s exchange for grains trading’ReutersDubai

Jordan-based Sigma Investments will partner with the Egyptian government to launch the region’s fi rst grains exchange by end 2016, the

fi rm’s chief executive said on Sunday in an inter-view.

Egypt is the world’s largest importer of wheat, purchasing about 10mn tonnes of the grain each year from global markets.

EGYCOMEX, Egyptian Commodities Ex-change, with a proposed partnership of 20% government investment and 80% private in-vestment, will trade spot and futures for grains, mainly wheat, as well as gold and oil, Sigma’s Iman Mutlaq told Reuters.

“For the past three years, the Egyptian govern-ment has been working on the infrastructure for connecting silos and our visibility study showed positive results, especially with the government deciding to become our partner,” Mutlaq said in an interview in Dubai.

Mutlaq said most of the Egyptian govern-ment’s contract wheat imports - done by state grain buyer GASC - will be done on the exchange,

helping to bring about 80% of Egypt’s total grain trading to the exchange.

Additionally, Egypt’s farmers, who produce over 3mn tonnes of wheat annually, will be able to see transparent grain prices and trade grains, even in small quantities.

EGYCOMEX prices for grains will be in the Egyptian pound, providing a hedge for local trad-ers against FX fl uctuations and dictated by local demand and supply, she said.

“It will eff ect the local Egyptian market a lot when a farmer can sell grains at a better price or use them as collateral for loans,” Mutlaq said, add-ing that the fi rm will be working with the govern-ment to help farmers improve the quality of grains, better market their harvest and source fi nancing.

Although the fi rm is expecting arbitrage at the launch of the exchange as traders seek to benefi t from the diff erence between local and interna-tional prices, the fi rm will put in place regula-tions that minimise the risk of bubbles as funds rush in, she said.

Sigma, a member of Global Alliance Partners, a Hong Kong-based network of international banks, is currently setting up the legal framework of the exchange with the Egyptian Financial Su-pervisory Authority, Mutlaq said.

Turkey’s Iyzico beats PayPal to unlock Iran system BloombergIstanbul

An Istanbul-based payments startup says it’s signed a deal that smoothes the way for

companies seeking to follow it into Iran’s $400bn economy.

Iyzico’s agreement with Tehran-based electronic payments plat-form PECCO lets its customers process transactions from some 230mn payment cards that were until recently disconnected from any fi nancial system outside Iran, according to Barbaros Ozbugutu, Iyzico’s German-Turkish chief ex-ecutive. The deal is the fi rst of its kind, he said in an interview in Is-tanbul.

Since visiting Tehran last year, the founders of the World Bank-backed company have been work-ing on expanding there, Ozbugutu said. That gives them a foothold in a country that’s been so far untapped by US-based competitors Paypal Holdings Inc and Stripe Inc.

“We’re fulfi lling the role Pay-pal was providing in places like Germany, where they were the preferred provider during that country’s digitalisation phase,” Ozbugutu said of Iyzico’s home market. It made sense to expand to Iran because there are “two major markets in the region with high card penetration, and they’re Iran and Turkey,” he said. “Both have populations of 80mn, a very young population and quite high Internet penetration.”

While PayPal’s website says it’s active in more than 200 markets, Iran isn’t one of them.

Investors monitor an electronic board at the Tehran Stock Exchange. The TEDPIX index has soared 18.3% since January 16, when the sanctions were lifted after an international deal on Iran’s nuclear programme.

BUSINESS3Gulf Times

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Aldar Properties manages stock release as market slows Abu Dhabi real estate demand slowed in last 2-3 months; managing stock release in light of market conditions; Q4 profit rises 5.6% to 735mn dirhams

ReutersAbu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi’s Aldar Properties is monitoring the amount of real estate it puts up for sale

as it tries to manage the impact of a slowdown in the sector, a company executive said yesterday.

He was speaking after the devel-oper reported a 5.6% rise in fourth-quarter net attributable profi t,

helped by higher recurring revenue from assets such as shopping malls, schools and hotels.

Economic growth in Gulf coun-tries is slowing as low oil prices have led to spending curbs and job cuts across major sectors.

Residential prices in Abu Dhabi, capital of the UAE and home to most of the UAE’s oil reserves, rose 25% in 2013 and 2014 but fl attened in 2015.

“We’re watching how much we’re releasing into the market,” Aldar chief development offi cer Talal al-Dhiyebi told reporters on a conference call without giving fur-ther details. “In the last two to three months, we’ve seen a slight slow-

down on demand but we are selling at a smaller rate.”

Transaction volumes in Abu Dhabi were also fl at, according to Matthew Green, head of research at consultancy CBRE Middle East, which could lead to defl ationary pressures.

Still, Aldar would raise capital ex-penditure to around 2.5bn dirhams this year from around 1.1bn dirhams in 2015, chief fi nancial offi cer Greg Fewer said, as the company spend on six projects launched since 2014.

Most of these projects had strong order books, including its aff orda-ble housing scheme on Reem Island which was 90% sold, Dhiyebi said.

The state-linked builder of Abu

Dhabi’s Formula One circuit said it made a profi t attributable to eq-uity holders of 735mn dirhams ($200.1mn) in the three months to December 31.

Reuters had previously calculated earnings of 760mn dirhams before the quarterly breakdown was pro-vided.

The fi gure was above both the earnings recorded in the corre-sponding period of 2014 and the 512.7mn dirham forecast of an ana-lyst at SICO Bahrain.

The growth was driven by income from recurring revenue assets, which contributed 62% of earnings in 2015 versus 34% in the previous year.

Qatar shares top Gulf gains on increased buy support By Santhosh V PerumalBusiness Reporter

The Qatar Stock Exchange yes-terday gained for the second consecutive day, adding 256

points to inch near the 9,900 mark, mainly on increased buying interests of foreign institutions.

An across-the-board-buying, par-ticularly in insurance, real estate and consumer goods, lifted the 20-stock Qatar Index by another 2.67% to 9,857.2 points.

Both Gulf and non-Qatari indi-vidual investors turned bullish in the market, where trading turnover and volumes were also on the rise.

Nevertheless, buying support from local retail investors considerably weakened and there was increased net profi t booking by Gulf institutions in the bourse, which is down 5.49% year-to-date.

Mid, small and large cap equities were the most sought after in the market, where realty, industrials and banking stocks together accounted for about 78% of the total trading volume.

Market capitalisation gained 2.17%, or more than QR11bn, to QR523.52bn with mid, small, large and micro cap stocks gaining 3.06%, 2.71%, 2.2% and 0.97% respectively.

The Total Return Index soared 2.67% to 15,373.29 points, the All Share Index by 2.57% to 2,627.38 points and the Al Rayan Islamic Index by 2.64% to 3,537.03 points.

Insurance stocks appreciated 4.05%, followed by real estate (3.76%), consumer goods (2.83%), industrials (2.61%), banks and fi nancial services (2.22%), transport (1.81%) and tel-ecom (0.4%).

About 75% of the stocks extended gains with major movers being Barwa, United Development Company, QNB, Commercial Bank, Doha Bank, Qa-tar Islamic Bank, Aamal Company, Woqod, Mannai Corporation, Qatar Electricity and Water, Qatar Insur-ance, Ooredoo and Nakilat; even as Gulf International Services and Me-saieed Petrochemical Holding bucked the trend.

Non-Qatari institutions’ net buying increased substantially to QR37.59mn against QR4.36mn on February 14.

Non-Qatari individual inves-tors turned net buyers to the tune of QR4.1mn compared with net sellers of QR1.19mn on Sunday.

The GCC (Gulf Cooperation Coun-cil) individuals were also net buyers to the extent of QR0.85mn against net sellers of QR0.74mn the previous day.

Domestic institutions’ net profi t booking fell to QR36.52mn compared to QR41.87mn on February 14.

However, local retail investors’ net buying weakened considerably to QR0.49mn against QR43.49mn on Sunday.

The GCC institutions’ net profi t booking strengthened to QR6.5mn compared to QR4.1mn the previous day.

Total trade volume was up 3% to 8.37mn shares, value by 27% to

QR303.6mn and deals by 40% to 4,899.

The transport sector’s trade volume grew more than seven-fold to 0.74mn equities and value more than fi ve-fold to QR23.17mn on more-than-quadru-pled transactions to 328.

The real estate sector’s trade vol-ume more than doubled to 3.05mn stocks and value almost tripled to QR70.87mn on more-than-doubled deals to 1,134.

The banks and fi nancial services

sector saw a 10% expansion in trade volume to 1.67mn shares, 9% in value to QR71.08mn and 40% in transac-tions to 1,038.

Although the telecom sector’s trade volume was fl at at 0.4mn equities, value soared 62% to QR10.35mn and deals by 36% to 319.

However, the consumer goods sec-tor’s trade volume plummeted 54% to 0.59mn stocks but value surged 74% to QR45.1mn. Transactions shrank 11% to 591.

The insurance sector reported a 52% plunge in trade volume to 0.11mn equities but on a 46% expansion in value to QR7.32mn and 35% in deals to 73.

The industrials sector’s trade vol-ume tanked 46% to 1.8mn equi-ties and value by 30% to QR75.7mn whereas transactions were up 14% to 1,416.

In the debt market, there was no trading of treasury bills and govern-ment bonds.

Loan-deposit shift boosts Saudi stocksReutersDubai

Saudi Arabian stocks rose sharply yester-

day after the central bank raised banks’

maximum loan-deposit ratio, while most

other bourses in the region were buoyed

by a rebound of global markets.

The Saudi central bank, seeking to ease

tightening liquidity caused by low oil

prices, increased the ratio of deposits

that commercial banks can lend out to

90% from 85%, industry sources told

Reuters.

That may not make much diff erence in

the long term to the pressures on Saudi

banks, which face deteriorating credit

quality as the economy slows as well

as demands on their funds from heavy

government bond issuance. The three-

month Saudi interbank off ered rate

edged up yesterday to 1.73125% from

1.72875%.

But the central bank’s move was a wel-

come eff ort by authorities to support the

economy, and the Saudi banking stock

index climbed 2.1%.

The overall Saudi equities index rose

2.4% as petrochemical giant Saudi Basic

Industries gained 3.1%. Major real estate

developer Dar Al Arkan rose 2.3%.

But Arabian Cement dropped 1.8% after it

said it was proposing a cash dividend for

the second half of 2015 of 2.5 riyals per

share, down from 3.25 riyals a year ago.

Dubai’s index fell 0.3% as DAMAC Prop-

erties slipped 0.8% and builder Drake

& Scull, which had risen on Sunday

because of better-than-expected fourth-

quarter earnings, fell back 0.9%.

Islamic Arab Insurance Co fell 2.9% in

unusually heavy trade after it posted

a 162.8mn dirham ($44.4mn) net loss

for 2015 compared to a 36.7mn dirham

profit in 2014. But shipper Gulf Naviga-

tion rose 3.5% after it reported that its

profit doubled last year.

Telecommunications firm du fell sharply

in early trade after reporting a 10.1% fall

in fourth-quarter profit, but it closed

flat.

Shares in du’s bigger rival, Abu Dhabi-

listed Etisalat, rose 1.3% after it posted

a 2.7% rise in quarterly profit. The Abu

Dhabi index rose 0.8%.

In Egypt, the stock index also gained

0.8% as billionaire Naguib Sawiris’s

Orascom Telecom surged 3.7%.

Beltone Financial soared 10% for a third

straight trading day. Commercial Interna-

tional Bank accepted Sawiris’s bid to buy

its investment arm CI Capital, market

sources said on Sunday; Orascom plans

to merge CI Capital with Beltone.

Giza General Contracting jumped 7.5% in

heavy trade after a disclosure statement

showed a purchase of 1.17mn shares in it

by a related party.

Elsewhere in the Gulf, Oman’s index fell

0.3% to 5,350 points; Kuwait’s index

edged up 0.2% to 5,139 points, while

Bahrain’s index edged up 0.1% to 1,167

points.

Saudi said to ease lending rules to boost liquidity Central bank said to have informed banks of decision on Sunday; move said to have followed request by committee of treasurers

BloombergDubai/London

Saudi Arabia is easing rules on bank lending to stimulate growth in the largest Arab economy, two

people with knowledge of the matter said.

Banks were told they can lend the equivalent of 90% of their deposits, up from an earlier limit of 85%, by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency on

Sunday, the people said, asking not to be identifi ed as the information is pri-vate. The move followed a request from the country’s committee of treasurers to ease liquidity constraints, one of the people said.

Saudi Arabia is seeking to revive its economy and stimulate credit as the slump in oil and government spending strain the banking system. The three-month Saudi Arabia Interbank rate rose to 1.73% on February 3, its high-est in about seven years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Bets for a devaluation of the riyal reached their highest in about two decades in Janu-ary, even after the country pledged to keep its currency peg.

Calls and e-mails sent to SAMA, as the central bank is known, after offi ce hours in Riyadh weren’t immediately returned.

“This is a confi dence boosting measure by SAMA to increase liquidity in the system,” John Sfakianakis, a Riy-adh-based economist, said late Sunday by phone. “SAMA is telling banks that in a low money supply environment it will take steps to ensure that credit is available for the private sector.”

The ratio of bank claims on the pri-vate sector to total deposits rose to 85% at the end of December, up from 80% at the end of 2014, according to data on the central bank’s website. Five of the 11 commercial banks in Saudi Ara-

bia exceeded the 85% cap at the end of 2015 based on preliminary fi nancial reports, Aqib Mehboob, senior analyst at Saudi Fransi Capital, said by e-mail on Sunday.

“This reported SAMA directive ap-pears to be aimed at easing liquidity in this weak deposit environment and bringing down the interbank rates,” Mehboob said. “The expansion in the limit should be supportive of credit growth in the fi rst half of 2016, thus positively impacting banking sector profi tability, which will also be sup-ported by higher base interest rates.”

The kingdom is taking unprecedent-ed measures to shore up its public fi -nances and reduce the economy’s reli-

ance on oil. The government has raised fuel prices and trimmed spending in this year’s budget to narrow a defi cit that may have been the widest since 1991 last year. The Washington-based International Monetary Fund expects economic growth in Saudi Arabia of 1.2% this year, its slowest pace since 2002.

The central bank’s net foreign assets tumbled more than $19bn in Decem-ber as the kingdom withdrew reserves amid oil’s plunge. Reserves declined about 3% to more than $608bn, bring-ing the drop in 2015 to $115bn, accord-ing to central bank data. While Saudi Arabia’s reserves remain among the highest in the world, the drop under-

scores the kingdom’s struggle to cope with falling oil prices.

The country is also tapping the lo-cal debt market to fund a budget gap forecast by the IMF to be 14% of gross domestic product this year. It will probably sell about 120bn riyals of debt in 2016 to support its fi nances, Saudi Fransi Capital said in October. Last year, the government raised 98bn riyals through the sale of bonds to local institutions.

Saudi Arabia’s market regulator has also increased the amount that invest-ment funds can allocate to government debt to 35% of net assets, up from 10%, Maaal news website reported Monday, citing people it didn’t identify.

An across-the-board-buying, particularly in insurance, real estate and consumer goods stocks, yesterday lifted the 20-stock Qatar Index by 2.67% to 9,857.2 points. PICTURE: Noushad Thekkayil

BUSINESS

Gulf Times Tuesday, February 16, 20164

‘SE Asia needs $550bn aircraft over 20 years’ReutersSingapore

Southeast Asia requires 3,750 new aircraft worth $550bn in 20 years from 2015, a senior

Boeing executive told a press confer-ence ahead of the Singapore Airshow that starts today.

Of this, 76% will be for single-aisle aircraft like the Boeing 737 and Air-bus A320, said Dinesh Keskar, senior vice-president for Asia Pacifi c and India sales at Boeing.

This will be largely driven by low-cost carriers, and the growth of mar-kets such as Indonesia, Myanmar and Vietnam, he added.

Southeast Asian passenger traf-fi c has grown by more than 9% since 2010, with intra-Southeast Asian traffi c projected to increase by 7.7% over the next 20 years, said Keskar.

“The total pie and the number of people travelling is still very low,” he added.

The Asia Pacifi c region as a whole will absorb 14,550 aircraft, more than a third of the 39,050 aircraft that are required globally, according to Boe-ing’s forecast.

IATA director general Tony Tyler said on Sunday that record plane or-ders placed by ambitious Southeast Asian airlines could be at risk in an environment of intense competi-tion, low profi tability and turmoil in fi nancial markets.

Fast growing low-cost carriers such as Indonesia’s Lion Air, Malay-sia’s AirAsia and India’s IndiGo have ordered hundreds of Airbus and Boe-ing jets over the last decade in a bid to secure market share.

Lion is the only Boeing customer of those three, and Keskar said that the airline had been taking all of its ordered 737s. Boeing, he added, was in a “good spot” and had not had re-quests for deferrals from any of its other customers.

“Most of our customers have been

ordering 25, 30, 40 aircraft at a time and then replacing them every three to four years,” said Keskar, who add-ed that the steady growth plans help these airlines.

Meanwhile, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has delayed plans to sell some of its Airbus A380 jumbo jets, and will now keep all six of them at least until 2018 after retiring its fl eet of Boeing 777s, its chief executive told Reuters

yesterday. The Kuala Lumpur-based carrier has tried to unsuccessfully sell the planes for the last year to cut costs as part of a restructuring plan which also saw it withdraw from sev-eral long-haul European routes.

After accelerating the retirement of its much older Boeing 777-200 fl eet, the airline has decided to keep the A380s in service until it gets the fi rst of its new Airbus A350 widebody

jets, Christoph Mueller said ahead of the Singapore Airshow. “We need them for the long haul market,” said Mueller of the A380s, which the air-line fl ies only to London.

“We are still evaluating what we want to do with the A380. We have six and we will keep them at least un-til 2018, when we get the fi rst A350,” he added.

MAS is also evaluating if it needs

two more A350s to add to the four that it will get from leasing compa-nies, Mueller said, adding that these planes will serve medium-haul, in-tra-Asia Pacifi c routes that the air-line will focus on as part of its post-restructuring strategy.

Mueller, an experienced industry executive, was hired to push through the restructuring at MAS in May 2015 after Malaysian national investment fi rm Khazanah took it private.

MAS suff ered a massive blow to its brand after fl ight MH370, which was carrying 239 passengers and crew, disappeared in March 2014. In July 2014, another fl ight, MH17, was shot down over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people aboard.

Mueller said the airline still aimed to return to profi t by 2018. “We are not profi table yet but we are getting there,” he added. “The markets are soft now, and that’s not just China. All segments are aff ected. But we can overcome that.”

As part of its restructuring, the airline has suspended non-stop services to Amsterdam, Paris and Dubai, and is using a new codeshare partnership with Dubai-based Emir-ates Airline to connect its passengers to destinations in Europe, Africa and the US. Mueller said MAS hoped to extend this codeshare to “all points” on the airlines’ combined networks to “give us many points in, for exam-ple Africa and Europe, that we can’t fl y to but where there is demand”.

One challenge to the restructur-ing programme has been the depre-ciation of the ringgit against the US dollar, with many costs such as fuel prices and aircraft lease pegged to the dollar, Mueller said.

In a bid to increase revenue to off -set higher costs, the airline is looking at ways to attract more passengers and upgrade its in-fl ight off erings, such as rolling out a new business class product this year and possibly adding in-fl ight mobile and Internet connectivity.

ReutersTokyo

Japanese lenders are rushing to cut de-posit rates before the start of the Bank of Japan’s negative interest rates today,

following sharp falls in benchmark bond yields.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp said it cut the interest rate on ordinary deposits to 0.001% a year, from 0.02%, the bank’s fi rst reduction on ordinary deposits since Sep-tember 2010.

The rate, eff ective from today, means a depositor will be paid an annual interest of ¥100 ($0.88) on ¥10mn ($88,000).

The bank, a core unit of Japan’s third-largest lender Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, and its biggest rivals Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) and Mizuho Bank have already cut rates on time deposits, though those remain in positive territory.

But bank executives said further cuts in loan interest rates are unlikely to give a boost to loan demand.

“Our corporate clients are saying the BoJ’s negative interest rates won’t lead to an increase in capital spending,” said a senior executive at one of the megabanks.

“With global markets this volatile, they are taking wait-and-see stance. One cli-ent told me his company is even putting a project on hold to rebuild its own offi ce building,” said the person, who declined to be identifi ed given the sensitivity of the matter.

“On a macro level, businesses and house-holds have surplus funds. Further falls in in-terest rates are unlikely to lead to a surge in loan demand,” said Ryoji Yoshizawa, direc-tor at Standard & Poor’s in Tokyo.

Simply put, banks make money from the gap between what they pay for deposits and what they receive from loans.

The Bank of Japan unexpectedly cut a benchmark interest rate below zero late last month – eff ectively charging fi nancial in-stitutions which park money with it – as it struggles to the stimulate the economy.

But even before the introduction of nega-tive interest rates, banks have little more room to cut deposit rates, while loan inter-est rates are likely to fall further amid tepid demand. Bank offi cials said it is diffi cult to charge fees or negative interest rates on clients’ deposits given a possible public backlash.

Japan banks rush to cut deposit rates

ReutersBangkok

Thailand reported economic growth of 2.8% in 2015, compared with 0.8% the previous year, but its recovery remains fragile as exports and

domestic consumption are weak and political uncer-tainties linger.

Fourth-quarter and full-year data released yester-day about Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy was a mix of good and bad news.

And the state planning agency cut its forecast for 2016 growth to 2.8-3.8% from the 3-4% range it saw in November.

With the traditional growth pillars of exports and consumption still shaky long after the military seized power in May 2014, government investment – up 41% on the year in the fourth quarter – has helped lift the economy.

“While fi scal spending should help prop up the economy in 2016, the pace of recovery will be grad-ual, given the backdrop of continued political uncer-tainty and high household debt,” Krystal Tan of Cap-

ital Economics in Singapore said in a note. Weiwen Ng, economist at ANZ, said that “fi scal therapy” has helped, “but the risk is that domestic demand could be derailed after expiration of tax incentives, which largely propped up Q4.”

In October-December, the economy grew 0.8% from the previous quarter on a seasonally-adjusted basis, less than the 1% in July-September and the 0.9% expected in a Reuters poll.

On an annual basis, growth was 2.8%, between the Reuters poll’s 2.7% forecast and third-quarter’s 2.9%, the National Economic and Social Develop-ment Board (NESDB) said.

Barnabas Gan of OCBC in Singapore said that de-spite the global slowdown, Thailand posted “a rather robust growth print”.

But the global picture makes many gloomy on Thai exports, which are worth about two-thirds of gross domestic product.

Exports have contracted three straight years, and the NESDB yesterday cut its 2016 estimate for ship-ments to grow 1.2% from its previous forecast of 3%.

NESDB chief Porametee Vimolsiri said it revised growth and export forecasts “as global risks have in-

creased”. Gundy Cahyadi, economist at DBS in Sin-gapore, said while it’s good that government spend-ing is supporting the economy, this “underscores the sluggishness of private demand”.

The reduced export forecast “clearly indicates that the authorities are not expecting any boost from ex-ternal demand,” he said.

Bank of Thailand governor Veerathai Santiprabhob warned on Thursday there were great downside risks to the recovery, which he described as still gradual and uneven. The BoT has predicted 3.5% GDP growth this year, with fl at exports.

That puts the burden on the junta, which has boosted state spending, to aid growth. In an attempt to lift activity, it changed its economic team in Au-gust and introduced stimulus measures, including ones worth 136bn baht ($3.81bn) aimed at helping rural areas.

Last month, it approved a 35bn baht programme for the grassroots economy.

Butbns of dollars in public spending aimed at re-viving the ailing rural economy have failed to reach farmers, fuelling disaff ection with the junta ahead of elections expected next year.

Thai Q4 GDP growth misses forecast, recovery still fragile

Workers unload sacks of rotten rice at a warehouse in Ratchaburi province. Thailand yesterday reported economic growth of 2.8% in 2015, against 0.8% in 2014.

Pakistan risk surges as $50bn debt bill coming due this year

BloombergKarachi

Bets are rising that Pakistan will

default on its debt just as it starts to

revive investor interest with a reduc-

tion in terrorist attacks.

Credit default swaps protecting the

nation’s debt against non-payment for

five years surged 56 basis points last

week amid the global market sell-off ,

the steepest jump after Greece, Ven-

ezuela and Portugal among more than

50 sovereigns tracked by Bloomberg.

About 42% of Pakistan’s outstand-

ing debt is due to mature in 2016

–- roughly $50bn, equivalent to the

size of Slovenia’s economy. The bulk

of that is in local currency.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has

worked to make Pakistan more inves-

tor-friendly since winning a $6.6bn In-

ternational Monetary Fund loan in 2013

to avert an external payments crisis.

The economy is forecast to grow 4.5%,

an eight-year high, as a crackdown

on militant strongholds helps reduce

deaths from terrorist attacks.

“Pakistan’s high level of public debt,

with a large portion financed through

short-term instruments, does make

the sovereign’s ability to meet their

financing needs more sensitive to

market conditions,” Mervyn Tang, lead

analyst for Pakistan at Fitch Ratings,

said by e-mail. Right now, he said,

there’s not much reason to panic.

Pakistan’s external liabilities are

“relatively modest,” foreign-currency

reserves have risen, the IMF is ready

to help meet maturing loans and

Chinese investment in an economic

corridor is on its way, Tang said.

“Improving growth prospects, lower

inflation and smaller budget deficit

should help to underpin investor

confidence, particularly the domestic

investor base,” Tang said.

Pakistan has just $4bn of external

debt coming due in 2016 and “does

not face any diff iculty in respect of

its debt servicing obligations,” the

finance ministry said yesterday in an

e-mailed response to questions. The

government doesn’t “feel any cause

for concern with regards to refinanc-

ing its domestic debt,” it said.

Public debt risk indicators have

come down over the past two years,

while the CDS is on a downward

trajectory compared with 2008, the

finance ministry said. Pakistan has a

medium risk of default over five years,

according to Bloomberg assessments.

Pakistan is committed to suc-

cessfully implement its IMF mac-

roeconomic stability programme,

the ministry said in a statement on

February 1. Sharif’s administration has

a “quite good” chance of completing

the programme, IMF mission chief

Harald Finger said last month. Since

Sharif took the IMF loan, Pakistan’s

debt due by end-2016 has jumped

about 79%. He’s also facing resistance

in meeting IMF demands to privatise

state-owned companies, leading to a

strike this month at national carrier

Pakistan International Airlines Corp.

The bulk of this year’s debt, some

$30bn, is due between July and

September, and repayments will get

tougher if borrowing costs rise more.

The spread between Pakistan’s 10-year

sovereign bond and similar-maturity

US Treasuries touched a one-year high

on Thursday.

If Pakistan’s debt servicing costs

rise, Sharif doesn’t have much room

to maneuver. Already about 77%

of the country’s Rs13tn ($124bn)

budget for the year through June 30

is earmarked for interest and principal

repayment on loans.

According to Bloomberg calcula-

tions 17% - or $8.3bn – of Pakistan’s

2016 debt repayments will need to be

in foreign currency. This comprises

$7.8bn of loans, the bulk of which is a

2008 bilateral loan from the IMF that’s

due end- September and $500mn in

bonds. The external requirement ac-

counts for 40% of the nation’s $21bn in

foreign- exchange holdings.

That stockpile, however, isn’t

airtight. While it increased by more

than 55% last year – the steepest rise

in Asia – more than half consists of

debt and grants that could leave the

country quickly if global risk appetite

worsens. Outflows would weaken the

rupee, a currency that is estimated

by the IMF to be as much as 20%

overvalued even though it’s proved

remarkably stable amid the recent

market turmoil.

Investors should expect volatility

in bonds and pressure on the rupee

this year, according to Mustafa Pasha,

head of investments at Lakson Invest-

ments, which manages $200mn of

Pakistani stocks and bonds.

While the plunge in oil prices

helped the government last year,

predicting the outlook would be like

“reading the tea leaves,” he said by

phone from Karachi.

BUSINESS5Gulf Times

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

ReutersBeijing

China’s January trade performance was worse than expected as tepid demand per-sisted both at home and abroad, raising ex-

pectations of further government measures to ar-rest the slowdown and to quell market jitters.

January exports fell 11.2% from a year earlier – the seventh straight month of decline, while im-ports tumbled 18.8 % – the 15th month of decline, both far worse than expected, data released by the General Administration of Customs showed yes-terday.

Exports declined even though China has allowed the yuan to weaken nearly 6% against the US dollar since last August, underlining the extent to which global demand has weakened.

China posted a record trade surplus of $63.3bn in January – partly due to soft demand and falling commodities prices, versus $60.09bn in Decem-ber.

“Overall, we believe the sharp drop of trade in January was a refl ection of weak external demand, especially given the weak exports of neighbour-ing economies such as Korea and Taiwan,” ANZ economists Li-Gang Liu and Louis Lam wrote in a research note.

“The record level trade surplus indicates that China continued to run a large current account surplus, and this should help off set some of the capital outfl ow and alleviate some depreciation pressure on the renminbi (yuan).”

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected exports to fall 1.9%, after slipping 1.4% in December, while imports had been expected to drop only 0.8%, fol-lowing a 7.6% slide in December. The poll forecast a trade surplus of $58.85bn.

China will keep the yuan basically stable against a basket of currencies and it will not allow specu-lators to dominate market sentiment regarding China’s foreign exchange reserves, central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan was quoted as saying on Saturday.

Premier Li Keqiang has said Beijing will not pro-mote exports through currency depreciation, al-though some policy advisers have been calling for sharper yuan falls.

“Today’s numbers hint that Chinese currency is still under pressure to weaken. That said, recent strength in onshore and off shore yuan is largely due to the central bank’s eff ort to dampen specula-tive positions,” said Zhou Hao, Commerzbank Asia senior emerging markets economist in Singapore.

China’s exports to the US, the country’s biggest market, fell 9.9% in dollar terms in January from a year earlier, while exports to the European Union

– the second biggest market, fell 12%, the customs data showed.

The customs offi ce said it expected downward pressure on China’s exports will ease, starting in the second quarter of this year.

A source at the Commerce Ministry also said the government would not set an annual target for for-eign trade this year.

Some economists, such as those at ANZ sus-pected false trade invoicing, often used to hide speculation in the yuan, may have distorted the January numbers even further, pointing to big swings in trade with Hong Kong. Fake transactions

were widely suspected to be one reason behind a much milder drop in December trade than markets had expected.

The customs data showed Hong Kong’s exports to mainland China fell 2.6% year-on-year in dollar terms while its imports from the mainland jumped 108.1%.

For 2015, China’s total trade tumbled 8% from 2014, well below the government’s target of 6% growth and the worst performance since the glo-bal fi nancial crisis.

Trends in January and February can also be dis-torted by the long Lunar New Year holidays, with

business slowing down weeks ahead of time and many fi rms scaling back operations or closing.

China’s commerce ministry has warned that the country’s external trade is facing relatively severe pressure in 2016, and few analysts expect a sudden improvement in global demand.

China is expected to target economic growth in a range of 6.5% to 7% this year, sources have said, setting a range for the fi rst time because policy-makers are uncertain on the economy’s prospects.

The world’s second-largest economy grew an annual 6.9% in 2015, the poorest showing in a quarter of a century.

China exports dive 11.2%,imports tumble 18.8%

ReutersTokyo

Japan’s economy shrank more than expected in the fi nal quarter of last year as consumer spending and ex-

ports slumped, adding to headaches for policymakers already wary of damage the fi nancial market rout could infl ict on a fragile recovery.

Gross domestic product contracted by an annualised 1.4% in October-De-cember, bigger than a market forecast for a 1.2% decline and matching a fall marked in the second quarter of last year, Cabinet Offi ce data showed yes-terday. It followed a revised 1.3% in-crease in the previous quarter.

The data underscores the challenges Premier Shinzo Abe faces in dragging the world’s third-largest economy out of stagnation, as exports to emerging markets fail to gain enough momentum to make up for soft domestic demand.

Abe sought to reassure markets that Tokyo is ready to stem excessive mar-ket volatility that could undermine the wealth eff ect delivered by his stimulus policies.

“As we have agreed at G7 and G20, sudden currency moves are undesir-able. I want the fi nance minister to closely monitor the situation and re-spond with appropriate measures as needed,” he told parliament yesterday.

Market speculation of additional monetary easing simmers, although the

Bank of Japan’s policy ammunition ap-pears to be dwindling, analysts say.

“Private consumption is especially weak. The economy is at a standstill,” said Junko Nishioka, chief economist

at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking. “It’s a matter of time before the BoJ and the government will take additional stim-ulus measures,” she said, predicting the central bank will ease policy again

as early as next month. With his stimulus policies that gave

big manufacturers windfall profi ts, Abe had hoped to generate a positive cycle in which companies raise wages and help

boost household spending. Instead the data showed that private consumption, which makes up 60% of GDP, fell 0.8%, exceeding market forecasts of a 0.6% decline. Since Abe took power three years ago, private consumption has shrank by roughly ¥1.5tn to ¥306.5tn ($2.7tn).

The economy grew an average 0.68% since Abe’s administration took offi ce in 2013, below a 1.8% increase dur-ing the opposition Democratic Party’s three-year reign.

Off ering some hope for policymak-ers, capital expenditure rose 1.4%, confounding market expectations for a 0.2% decrease.

But analysts doubt whether the economy will gain momentum in com-ing months, with the recent market turbulence and slowing Chinese growth clouding the outlook for corporate profi ts. Exports fell 0.9% in October-December after rising 2.6% in the pre-vious quarter, underscoring the pinch companies are already feeling from soft emerging market demand.

Domestic demand shaved 0.5 per-centage point off GDP growth, while external demand – or net exports – added just 0.1 point. Last month the BoJ cut a benchmark interest rate below zero, stunning investors with another bold move to stimulate growth. But the shock move has failed to boost Tokyo stock prices or weaken the yen as Japa-nese markets remained at the mercy of a global equity sell-off .

Japan economy shrinks 1.4% in last quarter

Australia sees nascent growth in Islamic finance despite tax concerns

ReutersSydney

Australia has begun to see a

steady stream of property deals

using Islamic financing as the at-

traction of low-risk tenants and

a weak Australian dollar off set

concerns about the lack of a

welcoming tax environment for

such transactions.

National Australia Bank, one

of the most active banks in the

sector, this month helped fund

a A$160mn ($114mn) Brisbane

property purchase, its third

Islamic financing transaction

since August.

“We saw a lot of interest from

Islamic investors who wanted to

invest in Australia but they had

to borrow from Islamic banks

off shore. This was often expen-

sive and complex,” said Imran

Lum, NAB’s associate director of

Islamic capital markets.

“It’s not only in commercial

property, we’re also seeing an

interest in Australian agriculture

and infrastructure assets,” he

said. While the emergence of

such deals represents a break-

through for Gulf and Southeast

Asian investors, questions

remain over how much momen-

tum will develop as Australia has

yet to follow the lead of other

jurisdictions like Britain and

Hong Kong in passing tax law

amendments to facilitate Islamic

finance. Islamic finance follows

religious principles such as

bans on interest and gambling

but the asset-based nature of

such contracts means they can

incur double or triple normal tax

charges because they require

multiple transfers of titles of

underlying assets.

Still, interest is strong.

TH Properties Sdn Bhd, a

unit of Malaysia’s pilgrims fund

Tabung Haji, completed an

A$220mn Sydney development

in November helped by A$96mn

in financing from Maybank

Islamic Bank. It also has more

Australian projects in the pipe-

line with a gross development

value of A$800mn, including a

A$500mn residential project in

Sydney. Prompted by investor

demand, NAB has designed a

funding tool using an agency-

based contract known as wakala,

the first such dedicated funding

platform in the country.

That and other structures

have now been developed that

can suit commercial investment

deals as well as development

financing, said Dale Rayner,

partner at law firm Norton Rose

Fulbright. “These transactions

are getting more traction as an

adaptable form of funding suited

to local conditions.”

His firm advised Singapore-

based firm AEP Investment

Management, part of Saudi

conglomerate Al Rajhi Holding

Group, which invested in the

Brisbane deal financed by NAB

through a Shariah-compliant

fund. Last year, the law firm

advised on a commodity-based

murabaha financing for a prop-

erty in Melbourne co-owned by

Tabung Haji, the first time that

structure has been used in Aus-

tralia and is advising a foreign

bank on a similar structure for

a commercial property deal in

Melbourne, he added. There

are also signs that more debate

about tax reform could be in the

works. The Australian Tax Off ice

said in April it was considering

the release of a paper on Islamic

finance that had been submit-

ted to the government in 2011,

although Canberra has never

responded to the paper.

A labourer works at a steel market in Wuxi, Jiangsu province. China’s exports to the US, the country’s biggest market, fell 9.9% in dollar terms in January from a year earlier, while exports to the European Union, the second biggest market, fell 12% after the EU imposed anti-dumping measures on Chinese steel bars used in the construction industry, the customs data showed yesterday.

A man walks near a container ship at a port in Tokyo. Japan’s economy shrank more than expected in the final quarter of last year as consumer spending and exports slumped, adding to headaches for policymakers already wary of damage the financial market rout could inflict on a fragile recovery.

Tokyo ready to work with G7 to soothe markets ReutersTokyo

Japan is poised to push for greater cooperation from its G7 partners to soothe market jitters but may

struggle to produce measures that could meaningfully restore global mar-ket confi dence, government sources say.

As economic leaders from G20 na-tions prepare to meet in Shanghai next week, there is increasing market

speculation that the world’s largest economies, notably G7 countries, may produce a coordinated policy response to global market ructions and slowing growth. This could include currency intervention.

While G7 policymakers could agree on joint statements that warn against excessive market volatility, Japanese government sources say they may have diffi culty agreeing on more concrete steps that instil market confi dence in a joint global response.

Some Japanese policymakers doubt

currency market intervention could ef-fectively stem yen rises, which are driv-en by a global wave of risk aversion due to factors beyond their control.

“I doubt whether stop-gap steps like solo currency intervention would work in the face of global risk aversion,” said a government source with direct knowledge of currency deliberations.

“What’s important is for G20 poli-cymakers to deliver a positive message to shake off negative sentiment that is widespread in the global markets,” the source told Reuters.

Global stock markets have taken a hit on concern over China’s slowdown and banking-sector woes in Europe. The yen has risen as investors seek the safe-haven currency, hurting Tokyo stocks and threatening to undermine the wealth eff ect premier Shinzo Abe has generated with his “Abenomics” stimulus policies. Abe and his fi nance minister, Taro Aso, have stepped up their verbal warnings to investors against pushing the yen too high, say-ing that Tokyo will take “appropriate action” against excessive yen swings.

Tokyo is ready to work with G7 na-tions to convey to markets that they are watching developments with vigilance, government offi cials said, adding that they may issue an emergency statement before the Shanghai G20 gathering if market turmoil escalates by then.

“We won’t rule out any steps, tak-ing into account market developments in the run-up to the G20 meeting,” said one source, when asked about the chance of a coordinated G20 response.

But there is no consensus among Japanese policymakers on what steps

could be taken beyond issuing verbal assurances through G7 or G20 state-ments. Central banks are ready to counter any sudden fund squeeze with emergency liquidity provisions. But coordinated fi scal and monetary stim-ulus measures by G20 nations seem unrealistic, government sources say, as many advanced economies are left with little policy ammunition.

That leaves solo currency interven-tion, or verbal threats of one, to weaken the currency among the few remaining tools to stimulate growth.

BUSINESS

Gulf Times Tuesday, February 16, 20166

Sensex jumps after worst week in 6 yrs; rupee rises BloombergMumbai

Indian stocks rebounded from its worst week since 2009 as region-al markets rallied amid specula-

tion losses that triggered a bear mar-ket were excessive.

Tata Steel climbed the most since May 2009. State Bank of India had the steepest gain in 20 months, while Bank of Baroda, the third-biggest lender by assets, soared 23% from a two-year low. Reliance Industries, owner of the world’s largest refi n-ing complex, rose the most in six months. A gauge of property devel-opers climbed from a record low.

The S&P BSE Sensex jumped 2.5%, with seven of the 30 stocks in the benchmark index climbing more than 5% each. The gauge slumped 6.6% last week to enter a bear mar-ket. The selloff , which erased $245bn from stocks’ value since January 1, sent the index’s 14-day relative strength index on Friday to below the 30 level that some analysts say sig-nals a rebound is due.

“The markets were in an oversold zone, both locally and globally, and a rebound was on the cards,” Alex Mathews, the head of research at Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Serv-ices, said by phone from Kerala. “The mood is still very cautious. All eyes will be on the budget and cues from the global markets.” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will present the budget on February 29. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect him to meet the government’s fi scal defi cit target for the year ending March 31, while slightly pushing back next year’s goal to 3.6% of gross domestic product.

The Reserve Bank of India left bor-rowing costs unchanged this month after four cuts in 2015, with governor Raghuram Rajan saying that his next move would depend on infl ationary trends and the federal budget.

Bank of Baroda reported on Satur-day loss of Rs33.4bn ($490mn), the largest in at least a decade as provi-sions for bad loans tripled. Analysts had estimated a profi t of Rs5.35bn. The shares had their best-ever rally, as investors were buoyed by comments

made by chief executive offi cer PS Jay-akumar after the earnings report.

“The market is rooting for Bank of Baroda as it decided not to kick the can down the road by fully provid-ing for all stressed assets at one go,” Hatim Broachwala, Mumbai-based banking analyst at Nirmal Bang In-stitutional Equities, said by phone. “Profi t and asset quality at the lender is expected to remain robust from here on.” Tata Steel soared 13% to pare this year’s loss to 5%. State Bank

rallied 8.4%, the most since May 2014. Reliance climbed 4.4%. Larsen & Toubro, the largest engineering company, added 9.1%, the steepest gain since May 2009.

Global funds sold a net $178mn of Indian stocks on February 11, taking this year’s outfl ow to $2.1bn. They bought $3.3bn of shares last year, the smallest in four years.

The Sensex has plunged 10% this year and trades at 14.7 times its pro-jected 12-month earnings, compared

with a multiple of 10.4 for the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.

Meanwhile, the rupee rose 0.3%, the most since February 4, to 68.06 a dollar in Mumbai, according to prices from local banks compiled by Bloomberg. It fell to as low as 68.4725 on Friday, near a record 68.845 seen in August 2013. A certain amount of depreciation in the currency is nec-essary to ensure India doesn’t be-come uncompetitive, Rajan said over the weekend.

Emerging stocks rebound on stimulus bets as currencies advance BloombergJakarta

Emerging-market stocks rebounded

after their worst weekly drop in a month

and currencies rallied amid speculation

authorities from Europe to Japan will

increase stimulus to stabilise global

economic growth.

Chinese shares listed in Hong Kong

and benchmark indexes in Russia, South

Africa and India gained, while gauges

on the mainland and Vietnam fell as

those markets returned from the week-

long holiday. All 10 industry groups

in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index

rose and developing-nation currencies

advanced for a second day. The yuan

surged by the most in more than a dec-

ade, catching up with the dollar’s recent

declines, after China’s central bank chief

voiced support for the currency and set

its fixing at a one-month high.

Stocks also rallied as investors

judged losses that pushed global equi-

ties into a bear market last week were

excessive. Sentiment toward riskier as-

sets had soured on scepticism whether

central banks can arrest the slide in the

world economy, while Federal Reserve

chair Janet Yellen indicated the US

won’t rush to raise interest rates again.

Monetary authorities in Europe and

Japan have signaled additional stimulus

is likely.

“Many investors are speculating that

authorities will come out with more

stimulus to prop up the sagging global

economy,” said John Teja, a director

at PT Ciptadana Securities in Jakarta.

“China is catching up after the holiday.

As market volatility is likely to remain

high going forward, I would selectively

buy defensive stocks.”

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index

jumped 1.8% to 724.17 in London, after

dropping 3.8% last week. Energy, indus-

trial and financial companies led the

gains among industry groups.

The emerging markets index has lost

8.8% this year and valued at 10.3 times

its 12-month estimated earnings. That

compares with the MSCI World Index

which dropped 9.5% and traded at a

multiple of 14.4. A separate MSCI gauge

of global equities capped a 20% slide

from a May record last week as the Fed

acknowledged the volatility around the

world and signaled it may delay further

monetary tightening.

A Bloomberg gauge of developing-

nation currencies rose 0.1%, after

gaining 0.2% on Friday. China’s yuan

strengthened 1.26%, its biggest advance

since the nation scrapped a peg to the

dollar in July 2005, after the central

bank boosted the daily fixing against

the dollar by the most in three months.

“The stronger fixing for the yuan,

plus improving risk appetite are

supporting the markets,” said Mitul Ko-

techa, head of Asian foreign-exchange

and interest-rate strategy at Barclays

in Singapore. “In the short-term, these

gains could be maintained. But given

the potential for risk aversion to move

higher, and considering the volatility

that’s still in place in oil prices and capi-

tal outflows, it’s difficult to see this sort

of rally being sustained in the medium

term.” Malaysia’s ringgit rose 0.9%,

Indonesia’s rupiah advanced 0.8% and

Russia’s ruble gained 0.7%. Currencies

of Poland, Romania and Hungary fell

about 0.4% each. South Korea’s bonds

fell for a second day on speculation the

Bank of Korea will refrain from cutting

interest rates today after tensions with

North Korea prompted foreign funds to

pull money from the nation’s debt. The

10-year yield climbed two basis points

to 1.83%, after falling to an unprec-

edented 1.77% on Thursday. The yield

on similar- maturity Thai notes rose six

basis points to 2.09%.

China’s 10-year sovereign debt rose,

pushing the yield down five basis points

to 2.85%. The rate on India’s notes

advanced two basis points to 7.75%

while that on Indonesian securities was

steady at 7.97%.

Stock traders at a brokerage firm in Mumbai. The Sensex rose 2.5% yesterday.

ReutersSingapore

Gold tumbled more than 2% yesterday, pulling further away from its highest in a year, as a rebound in stocks and

profi t-taking from China after the Lunar New Year weighed on the market.

Bullion had climbed to a one-year high of $1,260.60 on Thursday as turmoil in global equities stoked safe-haven demand for the metal, along with the Japanese yen and US Treasuries. But Asian shares snapped a fi ve-session losing streak yesterday following a rebound in US and European stocks in the previous session, with Shanghai stocks post-ing only modest losses after a week-long holi-day. Spot gold fell to a session low of $1,211.05, before paring some losses to trade down 1.9% at $1,213.60 by 0753 GMT. It dropped 0.7% on Friday. US gold futures dropped as much as 2.2% to $1,212.20. Spot silver and US silver futures fell 3%, tracking the yellow metal.

“Gold is lower because of the good bounce in equities and the Chinese selling,” said a Sydney-based trader. “There is some profi t-taking around but volumes haven’t been huge.” Gold was about $60 an ounce higher than February 5, when Chinese mar-kets were last open, prompting them to take profi ts. Assets of SPDR Gold Trust, the top gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.71% to 710.95 tonnes on Friday, following the sharp rise in prices.

“If fi nancial markets continue to stabilise gold is likely to correct further,” HSBC ana-lysts said in a note. For a decade from 2001, gold investors ceased to worry about the lack of interest payments on gold as its value rose from $250 an ounce to a record just shy of $2,000 in 2011. The slide from 2013 be-gan when former Fed Chairman Ben Bern-anke mentioned the possibility of reducing the US central bank’s bond purchases under its quantitative easing policy, and markets started to think about higher US rates.

Gold slides 2% onreboundin stocks

ReutersHong Kong

Asian shares snapped a fi ve-ses-sion losing streak yesterday as China’s central bank fi xed the

yuan sharply stronger, easing fears of depreciation for now, though a string of weak data from Japan to China and Indonesia suggested the bounce may be short-lived.

Most stock markets in Asia ad-vanced, encouraged by a stronger fi nish in US and European markets on Friday and by a relatively calm opening for China’s volatile markets after a week-long holiday.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pa-cifi c shares outside Japan rose 2.3%, after losing 10% of its value so far this year.

Japan’s Nikkei jumped 7.2%, shrug-ging off data that showed Japan’s econ-omy contracted more than expected in the fi nal quarter of 2015, after losing 11% last week.

China stocks fell yesterday, but loss-es were mitigated by a sharply stronger yuan and a surge in gold shares after the market reopened from the week-long Lunar New Year holiday.

A slump in Chinese-listed shares in Hong Kong and a global sell-off last week driven by falling commodity pric-es and concerns about the impact on European banks, had put investors on edge ahead of the reopening of China’s stock markets.

But even with disappointing Chi-nese trade data early in the session, initial losses were pared by the mid-day break. Exports fell 11.2% in January from a year earlier and imports tumbled 18.8%, both far worse than expected.

China’s blue-chip CSI300 index was down 1.4%, at 2,921.23 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost

1.6%, to 2,720.03 points. Hong Kong stocks, which sank to 3-1/2 lows on Friday, staged a sharp rally, taking cues from a jump in Japan equities yesterday and a Friday rebound in US and Euro-pean markets.

The Hang Seng index jumped 2.7% , to 18,819.59 points, while the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index surged 4.3%, to 7,829.12.

In China, spot yuan jumped more

than 1% to 6.4900 per dollar – its fi rm-est this year – after the People’s Bank of China set its daily midpoint 0.3% stronger and the head of the bank was quoted as saying speculators should not be allowed to dominate market sen-timent.

The Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.7% in its fi rst session since Feb-ruary 5, a relatively benign move given the wild swings seen worldwide recent-

ly. Still, much weaker-than-expected Chinese trade data pointed to further pressure on the yuan and the poten-tial for more capital outfl ows. January exports fell 11.2% from a year earlier, while imports dived 18.8%, suggesting the world’s second-largest economy is still losing steam.

“The poor trade data in January sug-gests weakening of the underlying mo-mentum in trade growth, which refl ects

lingering sluggishness in both external demand and fi xed asset investment in China,” Bank of America Merrill Lynch strategists said.

The disconnect between markets and economics was perhaps the stark-est in Japan, where the Nikkei was on track to post its biggest single-day rise since the depths of the global fi nancial crisis in 2008, shrugging off data which showed the economy contracted by an

annualised 1.4% in the fi nal quarter of 2015, worse than expected.

“Although we consider the violent risk-off move of recent weeks largely unwarranted by economic fundamen-tals, the sheer magnitude of the sell-off has raised the risk that market volatility could feed back into the real economy,” said Ajay Rajadhyaksha, an economist at Barclays.

“Central banks have very limited ability to ride to the rescue of risk as-sets.” Barclays pointed to three sources of volatility that had potential negative feedback loops: lower oil prices, capi-tal outfl ows and economic weakness in China, and pressure on European banks.

“Of these, we consider China the biggest medium-term risk, but the least immediate issue,” wrote Rajad-hyaksha.

Indeed, the strong yuan fi xing by the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) yester-day was seen by some traders as a move to defl ect speculation about a possible devaluation that has been one of the main factors roiling global markets.

In an interview over the weekend, PBoC Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said there was no basis for the yuan to keep falling, and China would keep it stable versus a basket of currencies while al-lowing greater volatility against the US dollar.

“I still believe that Zhou Xiaochuan’s comments during the weekend and to-day’s strong fi xing rate helped alleviat-ing some of the pressure on the CNY, at least temporarily. And so the same for Asia FX,” said Nordea Markets’ senior analyst Amy Yuan Zhuang in Singa-pore, referring to the yuan.

Oil prices consolidated gains after surging as much as 12% on Friday af-ter a report once again suggested Opec might fi nally agree to cut production to reduce the world glut.

Asia shares rise despite weak China, Japan data

Traders at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The Hang Seng index jumped 2.7% to 18,819.59 points yesterday.

LATEST MARKET CLOSING FIGURES

7Gulf TimesTuesday, February 16, 2016

BUSINESS

Zad Holding CoWidam Food CoVodafone Qatar

United Development CoSalam International Investme

Islamic Holding Group-RtsQatar & Oman Investment Co

Qatar NavigationQatar National Cement Co

Qatar National BankQatar Islamic Insurance

Qatar Industrial ManufacturQatar International Islamic

Qatari Investors GroupQatar Islamic Bank

Qatar Gas Transport(Nakilat)Qatar General Insurance & ReQatar German Co For Medical

Qatar Fuel QscQatar Electricity & Water CoQatar Cinema & Film Distrib

Qatar Insurance CoOoredoo Qsc

National LeasingMazaya Qatar Real Estate Dev

Mesaieed Petrochemical HoldiAl Meera Consumer Goods Co

Medicare GroupMannai Corporation Qsc

Masraf Al RayanAl Khalij Commercial Bank

Industries QatarIslamic Holding Group

Gulf Warehousing CompanyGulf International Services

Ezdan Holding GroupDoha Insurance Co

Doha Bank QscDlala Holding

Commercial Bank QscBarwa Real Estate Co

Al Khaleej Takaful Group

70.10

45.80

10.37

21.13

11.57

0.00

10.97

93.10

93.00

138.50

67.70

41.55

67.00

31.20

102.00

23.20

52.80

10.40

146.50

203.00

28.10

86.00

88.80

12.07

11.31

16.90

184.00

100.00

91.80

34.60

17.50

103.00

54.80

49.70

30.55

14.55

19.00

39.45

11.50

44.00

36.50

29.60

-2.64

0.11

0.19

6.66

9.98

0.00

3.00

0.76

0.00

1.69

1.80

0.12

-0.30

0.32

4.08

2.38

5.60

0.97

3.61

5.56

0.00

4.24

0.45

-1.07

0.98

-0.06

0.00

2.56

6.13

1.91

1.16

0.98

-3.86

-0.20

-0.97

1.75

0.00

4.37

-0.78

3.53

7.67

0.34

161

18,743

315,805

1,557,654

169,487

-

124,789

84,346

-

145,936

1,401

52,601

27,536

95,910

66,802

649,834

3,382

90,805

179,938

10,870

-

69,024

79,921

162,855

127,729

170,435

21,640

111,901

69,762

321,818

139,339

397,180

65,444

7,843

257,843

591,037

-

370,464

82,160

163,218

777,185

39,582

QATAR

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

United Wire Factories CompanEtihad Etisalat Co

Dar Al Arkan Real Estate DevSaudi Hollandi Bank

Rabigh Refining And PetrocheBanque Saudi Fransi

Saudi Enaya Cooperative InsuMediterranean & Gulf Insuran

Saudi British BankMohammad Al Mojil Group Co

Red Sea Housing Services CoTakween Advanced Industries

Sabb TakafulSaudi Arabian Fertilizer Co

National GypsumSaudi Ceramic Co

National Gas & IndustrializaSaudi Pharmaceutical Industr

ThimarNational Industrialization C

Saudi Transport And InvestmeSaudi Electricity Co

Saudi Arabia Refineries CoArriyadh Development Company

Al-Baha Development & InvestSaudi Research And MarketingAldrees Petroleum And Transp

Saudi Vitrified Clay Pipe CoJarir Marketing Co

Arab National BankYanbu National Petrochemical

Arabian CementMiddle East Specialized Cabl

Al Khaleej Training And EducAl Sagr Co-Operative Insuran

Trade Union Cooperative InsuArabia Insurance Cooperative

Saudi Chemical CompanyFawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair & C

Bupa Arabia For CooperativeWafa Insurance

Jabal Omar Development CoSaudi Basic Industries Corp

Saudi Kayan Petrochemical CoEtihad Atheeb Telecommunicat

Co For Cooperative InsuranceNational Petrochemical Co

Gulf Union Cooperative InsurGulf General Cooperative Ins

Basic Chemical IndustriesSaudi Steel Pipe Co

Buruj Cooperative InsuranceMouwasat Medical Services Co

Southern Province Cement CoMaadaniyah

Yamama Cement CoJazan Development Co

Zamil Industrial InvestmentAlujain Corporation (Alco)

Tabuk Agricultural DevelopmeUnited Co-Operative Assuranc

Qassim Cement/TheSaudi Advanced Industries

Kingdom Holding CoSaudi Arabian Amiantit Co

Al Jouf Agriculture DevelopmSaudi Industrial Development

Bishah AgricultureRiyad Bank

The National Agriculture DevHalwani Bros Co

Arabian Pipes CoEastern Province Cement Co

Al Qassim Agricultural CoFiling & Packing Materials M

Saudi Cable CoTihama Advertising & Public

Saudi Investment Bank/TheAstra Industrial Group

Saudi Public Transport CoTaiba Holding Co

Saudi Industrial Export CoSaudi Real Estate Co

Saudia Dairy & Foodstuff CoNational Shipping Co Of/The

Methanol Chemicals CoAce Arabia Cooperative Insur

Mobile Telecommunications CoSaudi Arabian Coop Ins Co

Axa Cooperative InsuranceAlsorayai Group

Weqaya For Takaful InsuranceBank Albilad

Al-Hassan G.I. Shaker CoWataniya Insurance Co

Abdullah Al Othaim MarketsHail Cement

15.31

21.45

4.43

24.50

8.77

21.90

9.97

14.44

19.72

12.55

18.85

17.41

20.35

64.39

11.46

34.05

19.48

26.94

31.81

8.13

50.95

14.14

29.05

17.02

13.50

39.30

34.37

76.00

118.47

18.14

28.46

44.74

6.17

19.68

23.34

11.74

5.73

40.83

42.04

102.05

6.14

45.72

66.66

4.62

3.83

68.34

11.58

7.30

12.13

18.94

16.28

12.99

109.71

66.56

18.34

27.78

9.67

25.52

9.99

9.21

7.66

63.75

9.23

11.10

7.95

21.41

8.31

69.75

11.04

17.20

62.88

8.27

32.37

9.06

30.06

6.03

32.80

14.79

13.69

10.02

31.55

41.31

15.77

120.00

34.56

5.18

35.56

5.55

13.66

10.88

9.64

19.39

21.71

21.00

43.77

78.98

11.85

2.82

0.94

1.14

3.42

7.34

4.89

-1.29

3.14

2.49

0.00

7.29

7.27

10.00

2.06

3.62

2.59

2.42

3.54

6.39

2.14

2.95

0.93

8.11

0.89

0.00

8.95

2.32

2.70

3.42

0.17

3.72

-1.67

2.32

4.29

3.96

7.12

6.31

0.07

2.54

5.20

4.60

0.42

3.09

2.44

2.41

3.51

7.72

4.14

9.58

0.53

2.26

4.09

0.16

1.73

3.62

0.29

4.09

2.74

3.85

2.45

4.93

0.25

2.56

3.35

9.66

5.83

5.32

0.00

0.82

2.08

4.28

4.03

4.28

3.78

5.77

2.38

9.77

0.48

3.24

5.36

0.16

8.80

3.14

0.77

3.35

3.60

4.13

0.00

7.31

4.31

4.22

0.00

3.88

4.22

4.44

1.70

3.04

362,584

531,693

37,002,547

103,855

2,598,168

474,610

3,702,746

2,563,320

83,992

-

527,908

2,156,231

1,554,085

133,277

378,716

624,059

81,188

123,065

2,786,391

1,213,598

1,126,379

1,480,189

640,006

1,513,463

-

1,546,765

217,415

11,213

183,727

449,903

663,021

565,446

1,653,758

591,058

1,636,679

524,877

741,839

646,075

702,947

131,178

946,549

409,243

10,271,349

8,604,832

3,110,823

258,370

1,559,662

508,655

285,691

118,952

468,577

532,109

56,059

25,988

769,422

353,916

2,142,610

542,300

1,062,738

555,291

123,582

30,229

491,221

318,721

526,082

39,091

1,944,846

-

791,965

545,790

6,496

1,504,587

454,282

1,488,374

481,296

526,239

6,003,785

168,042

160,507

1,856,464

85,270

1,510,165

263,259

19,761

1,529,356

1,380,076

101,409

3,143,911

456,819

1,832,666

371,530

-

353,122

144,091

161,704

140,820

327,823

SAUDI ARABIA

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Saudi Re For Cooperative ReiSolidarity Saudi Takaful Co

Amana Cooperative InsuranceAlabdullatif Industrial Inv

Saudi Printing & Packaging CSanad Cooperative Insurance

Saudi Paper Manufacturing CoAlinma Bank

Almarai CoFalcom Saudi Equity Etf

United International TranspoHsbc Amanah Saudi 20 Etf

Saudi International PetrocheFalcom Petrochemical Etf

Saudi United Cooperative InsBank Al-Jazira

Al Rajhi BankSamba Financial Group

United Electronics CoAllied Cooperative Insurance

Malath Cooperative & ReinsurAlinma Tokio Marine

Arabian Shield CooperativeSavola

Wafrah For Industry And DeveFitaihi Holding Group

Tourism Enterprise Co/ ShamsSahara Petrochemical Co

Herfy Food Services Co

5.19

6.59

6.35

15.84

19.00

15.23

12.41

12.77

64.08

21.50

32.67

20.70

11.09

16.80

7.58

12.00

52.07

19.57

23.09

11.09

11.83

16.78

18.01

36.99

20.88

12.69

34.03

7.59

68.01

1.96

4.27

9.48

1.21

9.20

0.00

6.89

2.57

2.17

0.00

2.77

0.00

5.42

0.00

7.21

1.78

1.90

1.82

4.39

6.02

2.87

6.61

3.92

5.66

9.78

4.19

9.63

2.02

2.86

994,717

1,716,316

324,540

2,867,235

3,939,685

-

1,278,356

62,448,368

275,784

268,110

328,774

-

1,577,448

-

1,403,166

5,400,372

3,553,365

978,652

997,938

937,748

2,385,679

7,086,870

394,206

301,259

1,986,685

211,582

1,685,388

2,957,243

74,612

SAUDI ARABIA

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Securities Group CoSultan Center Food Products

Kuwait Foundry Co SakKuwait Financial Centre Sak

Ajial Real Estate EntmtGulf Glass Manuf Co -Kscc

Kuwait Finance & InvestmentNational Industries Co Ksc

Kuwait Real Estate Holding CSecurities House/The

Boubyan Petrochemicals CoAl Ahli Bank Of Kuwait

Ahli United Bank (Almutahed)National Bank Of Kuwait

Commercial Bank Of KuwaitKuwait International Bank

Gulf BankAl-Massaleh Real Estate Co

Al Arabiya Real Estate CoKuwait Remal Real Estate Co

Alkout Industrial Projects CA’ayan Real Estate Co Sak

Investors Holding Group Co.KAl-Mazaya Holding Co

Al-Madar Finance & Invt CoGulf Petroleum Investment

Mabanee Co SakcCity Group

Inovest Co BscKuwait Gypsum Manufacturing

Al-Deera Holding CoAlshamel International Hold

Mena Real Estate CoNational Slaughter House

Amar Finance & Leasing CoUnited Projects Group Kscc

National Consumer Holding CoAmwal International Investme

Jeeran HoldingsEquipment Holding Co K.S.C.C

Nafais HoldingSafwan Trading & Contracting

Arkan Al Kuwait Real EstateGfh Financial Group Bsc

Energy House Holding Co KscpKuwait Slaughter House Co

Kuwait Co For Process PlantAl Maidan Dental Clinic Co K

National Ranges CompanyAl-Themar Real International

Al-Ahleia Insurance Co SakpWethaq Takaful Insurance Co

Salbookh Trading Co KscpAqar Real Estate Investments

Hayat CommunicationsKuwait Packing Materials Mfg

Soor Fuel Marketing Co KscAlargan International RealBurgan Co For Well Drilling

Kuwait Resorts Co KsccOula Fuel Marketing Co

Palms Agro Production CoIkarus Petroleum Industries

Mubarrad Transport CoAl Mowasat Health Care Co

Shuaiba Industrial CoHits Telecom Holding

First Takaful Insurance CoKuwaiti Syrian Holding Co

National Cleaning CompanyEyas For High & Technical EdUnited Real Estate Company

AgilityKuwait & Middle East Fin Inv

Fujairah Cement IndustriesLivestock Transport & Tradng

International Resorts CoNational Industries Grp Hold

Marine Services Co KscWarba Insurance Co

Kuwait United Poultry CoFirst Dubai Real Estate Deve

Al Arabi Group Holding CoKuwait Hotels Sak

Mobile Telecommunications CoAl Safat Real Estate Co

Tamdeen Real Estate Co KscAl Mudon Intl Real Estate Co

Kuwait Cement Co KscSharjah Cement & Indus Devel

Kuwait Portland Cement CoEducational Holding Group

Bahrain Kuwait InsuranceAsiya Capital Investments Co

Kuwait Investment CoBurgan Bank

Kuwait Projects Co HoldingsAl Madina For Finance And In

Kuwait Insurance CoAl Masaken Intl Real Estate

Intl Financial AdvisorsFirst Investment Co Kscc

Al Mal Investment CompanyBayan Investment Co Kscc

Egypt Kuwait Holding Co SaeCoast Investment Development

Privatization Holding CompanKuwait Medical Services Co

Injazzat Real State CompanyKuwait Cable Vision Sak

Sanam Real Estate Co KsccIthmaar Bank Bsc

Aviation Lease And Finance CArzan Financial Group For Fi

Ajwan Gulf Real Estate CoKuwait Business Town Real Es

Future Kid Entertainment AndSpecialities Group Holding C

Abyaar Real Eastate DevelopmDar Al Thuraya Real Estate C

Al-Dar National Real EstateKgl Logistics Company Kscc

Combined Group ContractingZima Holding Co Ksc

Qurain Holding Co

85.00

62.00

210.00

84.00

138.00

470.00

29.50

228.00

18.50

29.50

460.00

350.00

450.00

720.00

510.00

192.00

204.00

59.00

25.50

31.50

0.00

64.00

19.50

104.00

0.00

43.00

860.00

500.00

51.00

0.00

26.50

460.00

19.00

62.00

63.00

600.00

0.00

19.00

64.00

52.00

120.00

300.00

99.00

46.50

32.00

204.00

210.00

0.00

18.00

80.00

455.00

30.00

64.00

75.00

41.00

340.00

112.00

176.00

116.00

89.00

110.00

102.00

81.00

58.00

200.00

420.00

26.50

52.00

29.50

37.00

385.00

94.00

420.00

28.00

74.00

128.00

23.00

114.00

114.00

104.00

188.00

39.00

55.00

210.00

350.00

46.00

580.00

28.00

365.00

83.00

1,020.00

210.00

0.00

38.00

91.00

325.00

540.00

27.50

310.00

66.00

23.00

41.50

30.00

31.00

122.00

30.50

46.50

27.00

83.00

26.50

45.00

29.00

182.00

32.50

24.00

37.00

110.00

88.00

24.50

0.00

21.50

54.00

790.00

94.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-6.35

0.00

2.78

-7.81

1.10

0.00

2.27

1.41

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

4.08

0.00

0.00

0.00

-2.50

1.96

0.00

-1.15

-3.37

0.00

0.00

0.00

-3.64

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-2.56

0.00

1.96

0.00

0.00

0.00

4.49

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-1.64

3.23

0.00

3.80

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

4.71

-1.79

0.00

-2.41

-3.33

0.00

5.00

1.92

0.00

-1.67

0.00

0.00

3.30

-1.18

0.00

2.78

3.23

-2.13

3.64

0.00

-1.89

0.00

2.63

-5.17

0.00

2.94

-4.22

0.00

-3.45

0.00

0.00

2.00

1.94

0.00

-1.30

0.00

0.00

0.00

-1.79

-3.13

0.00

-2.13

-2.35

3.45

3.33

3.39

0.00

1.09

0.00

5.06

0.00

0.00

-1.69

0.00

1.56

0.00

-1.33

0.00

2.33

-2.00

0.00

-6.52

-3.57

0.00

-5.05

0.00

487

78,900

63,966

2,000

500

5,000

835,541

435

35,000

6,416,457

97,500

352,000

65,591

1,156,538

5,009

116,000

16,000

5,000

123,370

500

-

100,000

765,405

353,896

-

1,716,132

494,690

90,000

105,900

-

40,641

150

257,500

5,000

500

9,490

-

742,216

150

10

10,000

5,000

56,156

2,795,500

500

334

15

-

708,137

2,500

10,000

2,500

170,100

10,500

200

336

11,622

34,289

1

200

135,494

9,500

5,200

2,012,580

285,427

67,582

30

7,010

1,409,482

781,000

20

94,000

231,225

182,820

555,010

53,400

49,760

454,661

100

10,000

17,750

124,180

619,061

6,356

2,112,915

34,320

10,200

295,240

5

245,887

800

440

-

677,951

1,100

10,140

28,000

1,192,510

10,000

30,000

1,005,504

90,000

573,500

526,100

78,000

920,231

285,857

45,080

5,800

3,000

50

1,301,015

50,010

100,000

30,000

2,854,166

50

100

282,455

-

13,249,730

1,657,545

7,500

926,707

-

KUWAIT

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Voltamp Energy SaogUnited Power/Energy Co- Pref

United Power Co SaogUnited Finance Co

Ubar Hotels & ResortsTakaful Oman

Taageer FinanceSweets Of OmanSohar Power Co

Sohar PoultrySmn Power Holding Saog

Shell Oman Marketing - PrefShell Oman Marketing

Sharqiyah Desalination Co SaSembcorp Salalah Power & Wat

Salalah Port ServicesSalalah Mills Co

Salalah Beach Resort SaogSahara Hospitality

Renaissance Services SaogRaysut Cement Co

Port Service CorporationPhoenix Power Co Saoc

Packaging Co LtdOoredoo

OminvestOman United Insurance Co

Oman Textile Holding Co SaogOman Telecommunications Co

Oman Refreshment CoOman Packaging

Oman Orix Leasing Co.Oman Oil Marketing Company

Oman National Engineering AnOman Investment & Finance

Oman Intl MarketingOman Hotels & Tourism CoOman Foods International

Oman Flour MillsOman Fisheries CoOman Fiber Optics

Oman Europe Foods IndustriesOman Education & Training In

Oman ChromiteOman Chlorine

Oman Ceramic ComOman Cement Co

Oman Cables IndustryOman Agricultural Dev

Oman & Emirates Inv(Om)50%Natl Aluminium Products

National SecuritiesNational Real Estate Develop

National PharmaceuticalNational Mineral Water

National Hospitality InstituNational Gas Co

National Finance CoNational Detergent Co Saog

National Biscuit IndustriesNational Bank Of Oman Saog

Muscat Thread Mills CoMuscat National Holding

Muscat Gases Company SaogMuscat Finance

Majan Glass CompanyMajan College

Hsbc Bank OmanHotels Management Co Interna

Gulf StoneGulf Plastic Industries Co

Gulf Mushroom CompanyGulf Investments Services

Gulf Invest. Serv. Pref-SharGulf International Chemicals

Gulf Hotels (Oman) Co LtdGlobal Fin Investment

Galfar Engineering&ContractGalfar Engineering -Prefer

Financial Services Co.Financial Corp/The

Dhofar UniversityDhofar Tourism

Dhofar PoultryDhofar Intl Development

Dhofar InsuranceDhofar Fisheries & Food Indu

Dhofar CattlefeedDhofar Beverages Co

Construction Materials IndComputer Stationery Inds

Bankmuscat SaogBank SoharBank Nizwa

Bank Dhofar Saog

0.43

1.00

3.43

0.13

0.13

0.11

0.13

1.34

0.35

0.21

0.74

1.05

1.97

4.59

2.45

0.65

1.45

1.38

2.50

0.13

0.99

0.12

0.14

0.48

0.66

0.46

0.20

0.40

1.48

2.25

0.29

0.13

1.95

0.21

0.19

0.52

0.24

0.00

0.42

0.06

5.26

1.00

0.16

3.64

0.51

0.45

0.43

1.51

1.75

0.10

0.22

0.17

5.00

0.11

0.06

2.05

0.33

0.13

0.64

3.75

0.27

0.13

1.86

0.83

0.13

0.20

0.52

0.10

1.25

0.11

0.39

0.39

0.09

0.12

0.29

10.50

0.11

0.06

0.39

0.17

0.11

1.49

0.49

0.18

0.38

0.21

1.28

0.22

0.26

0.03

0.26

0.45

0.16

0.07

0.28

0.00

0.00

0.00

2.46

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-7.19

0.00

-2.40

0.00

0.00

0.00

2.21

0.00

2.56

-1.33

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

1.09

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-9.52

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.64

-1.39

0.00

126

-

-

128,499

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

1,700

-

-

-

-

-

-

932,236

4,975

30,000

715,108

-

115,100

34,599

131,117

43,356

13,051

-

-

-

-

-

802,146

-

-

-

5,000

100

-

-

-

-

-

-

3,063

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

260,254

-

-

-

-

-

-

132,872

-

-

-

-

55,033

-

32,000

-

3,439

5,872

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

5,000

-

408,045

-

1,789,336

340,726

555,413

-

OMAN

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Areej Vegetable OilsAloula Co

Al-Omaniya Financial ServiceAl-Hassan Engineering Co

Al-Fajar Al-Alamia CoAl-Anwar Ceramic Tiles Co

Al Suwadi PowerAl Shurooq Inv Ser

Al Sharqiya Invest HoldingAl Maha Petroleum Products M

Al Maha Ceramics Co SaocAl Madina Takaful Co Saoc

Al Madina Investment CoAl Kamil Power Co

Al Jazerah Services -PfdAl Jazeera Steel Products Co

Al Jazeera ServicesAl Izz Islamic Bank

Al Buraimi HotelAl Batinah PowerAl Batinah Hotels

Al Batinah Dev & InvAl Anwar Holdings Saog

Ahli BankAcwa Power Barka Saog

Abrasives Manufacturing Co SA’saff a Foods Saog

0Man Oil Marketing Co-Pref#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security#N/A Invalid Security

5.51

0.53

0.31

0.07

0.75

0.28

0.21

1.04

0.11

1.72

0.41

0.07

0.06

0.31

0.55

0.14

0.27

0.06

0.88

0.21

1.13

0.07

0.17

0.18

0.63

0.05

0.86

0.25

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-6.04

0.00

0.00

0.96

0.00

-1.44

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-3.45

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-1.70

0.00

-4.27

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-

-

-

-

-

8,060

-

-

792,488

-

23,250

-

100

-

-

73,397

-

-

-

32

-

-

1,170,918

196,020

21,000

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

OMAN

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Waha Capital PjscUnited Insurance Company

United Arab Bank PjscUnion National Bank/Abu Dhab

Union Insurance CoUnion Cement Co

Umm Al Qaiwain Cement IndustSharjah Islamic Bank

Sharjah Insurance CompanySharjah Group

Sharjah Cement & Indus DevelRas Al-Khaimah National Insu

Ras Al Khaimah White CementRas Al Khaimah Ceramics

Ras Al Khaimah Cement Co PscRas Al Khaima Poultry

Rak PropertiesOoredoo Qsc

Oman & Emirates Inv(Emir)50%Nbad Oneshare Msci Uae Etf

National Takaful CompanyNational Marine Dredging Co

National Investor Co/TheNational Corp Tourism & Hote

National Bank Of Umm Al QaiwNational Bank Of Ras Al-Khai

National Bank Of FujairahNational Bank Of Abu Dhabi

Methaq Takaful InsuranceManazel Real Estate Pjsc

Invest BankIntl Fish Farming Co Pjsc

Insurance HouseGulf Pharmaceutical Industri

Gulf Medical ProjectsGulf Cement Co

Fujairah Cement IndustriesFujairah Building Industries

Foodco Holding PjscFirst Gulf BankFinance House

Eshraq Properties Co PjscEmirates Telecom Group Co

Emirates Insurance Co. (Psc)Emirates Driving Company

Dana GasCommercial Bank Internationa

Bank Of SharjahAxa Green Crescent Insurance

Arkan Building Materials CoAlkhaleej InvestmentAldar Properties Pjsc

Al Wathba National InsuranceAl Khazna Insurance Co

Al Fujairah National InsuranAl Dhafra Insurance Co. P.S.

Al Buhaira National InsurancAl Ain Ahlia Ins. Co.

Agthia Group PjscAbu Dhabi Ship Building Co

Abu Dhabi Natl Co For BuildiAbu Dhabi National Takaful C

Abu Dhabi National InsuranceAbu Dhabi National Hotels

Abu Dhabi National Energy CoAbu Dhabi Islamic Bank

2.02

2.00

4.77

3.25

1.21

1.20

0.90

1.33

3.85

1.50

1.01

4.10

1.16

3.35

0.82

1.99

0.56

73.00

1.38

6.26

1.08

4.30

0.63

3.81

3.30

5.50

4.79

8.00

0.63

0.56

1.71

6.95

0.81

2.40

2.25

0.97

1.25

1.71

4.05

11.65

1.93

0.60

16.25

6.72

6.25

0.49

2.24

1.37

0.91

0.92

2.22

2.36

4.50

0.28

300.00

4.80

2.70

60.00

7.01

2.74

0.42

5.25

2.00

2.50

0.40

3.50

1.00

0.00

0.00

-1.22

0.00

0.84

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

1.52

0.00

-1.49

-1.75

-1.35

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

2.17

5.00

1.82

0.00

6.92

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

1.30

0.00

0.00

1.25

0.00

0.81

-3.92

0.00

0.00

5.81

0.00

0.00

-0.84

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-1.27

-8.67

2.44

0.00

1.01

0.00

0.00

1.45

622,994

-

-

486,512

-

35,773

-

176,483

-

-

15,000

-

-

2,463,676

432,729

2,794

8,726,132

1,001

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

316,679

-

257,198

29,941,844

85,603,933

-

6,696

-

1,674,972

-

300,000

-

-

-

551,602

-

32,022,439

1,610,377

-

13,914

52,746,876

-

-

20,000

503,741

-

12,819,431

-

-

-

-

-

-

4,456

11,450

403,000

-

11,000

-

52,010

839,550

UAE

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Zain Bahrain BsccUnited Paper Industries Bsc

United Gulf Investment CorpUnited Gulf BankTrafco Group Bsc

Takaful International CoTaib Bank -$Us

Seef PropertiesSecurities & Investment Co

National Hotels CoNational Bank Of Bahrain Bsc

Nass Corp BscKhaleeji Commercial Bank

Ithmaar Bank BscInvestcorp Bank -$Us

Inovest Co BscGulf Monetary Group

Gulf Hotel Group B.S.CGlobal Investment House Kpsc

Gfh Financial Group BscEsterad Investment Co B.S.C.

Delmon Poultry CoBmmi Bsc

Bmb Investment BankBbk Bsc

Bankmuscat SaogBanader Hotels Co

Bahrain Tourism CoBahrain Telecom Co

Bahrain Ship Repair & EnginBahrain National Holding

Bahrain Kuwait InsuranceBahrain Islamic Bank

Bahrain Flour Mills CoBahrain Family Leisure Co

Bahrain Duty Free ComplexBahrain Commercial Facilitie

Bahrain Cinema CoBahrain Car Park Co

Arab Insurance Group(Bsc)-$Arab Banking Corp Bsc-$Us

Aluminium Bahrain BscAlbaraka Banking Group

Al-Salam BankAl-Ahlia Insurance Co

0.17

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.20

0.00

0.00

0.69

0.12

0.07

0.10

6.60

0.00

0.00

0.78

0.00

0.15

0.19

0.00

0.85

0.00

0.38

0.00

`

0.23

0.31

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.14

0.00

0.00

0.89

0.00

1.17

0.00

0.00

0.48

0.34

0.52

0.09

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

3.13

-4.76

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

4.00

0.00

0.00

19,100

-

-

-

-

-

-

10,000

-

-

10,000

534,500

1,142,000

100,000

220,697

-

-

3,066

-

43,000

42,033

-

5,744

-

20,000

-

650,820

10,108

15,238

-

-

-

7,664

-

-

51,500

-

6,321

-

-

102,100

20,000

28,000

86,538

-

BAHRAIN

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Boubyan Intl Industries HoldGulf Investment House Ksc

Boubyan Bank K.S.CAhli United Bank B.S.C

Osos Holding Group CoAl-Eid Food Ksc

Qurain Petrochemical IndustrAdvanced Technology Co

Ekttitab Holding Co SakKout Food Group Ksc

Real Estate Trade Centers CoAcico Industries Co Kscc

Kipco Asset Management CoNational Petroleum ServicesAlimtiaz Investment Co Kscc

Ras Al Khaimah White CementKuwait Reinsurance Co Ksc

Kuwait & Gulf Link TransportHuman Soft Holding Co Ksc

Automated Systems Co KsccMetal & Recycling Co

Gulf Franchising Holding CoAl-Enma’a Real Estate Co

National Mobile TelecommuniAl Bareeq Holding Co Kscc

Housing Finance Co SakAl Salam Group Holding Co

United Foodstuff IndustriesAl Aman Investment Company

Mashaer Holdings Co KscManazel Holding

Mushrif Trading & ContractinTijara And Real Estate Inves

Kuwait Building MaterialsJazeera Airways Co Ksc

Commercial Real Estate CoFuture Communications Co

National International CoTaameer Real Estate Invest C

Gulf Cement CoHeavy Engineering And Ship B

Refrigeration Industries & SNational Real Estate Co

Al Safat Energy Holding CompKuwait National Cinema CoDanah Alsafat Foodstuff Co

Independent Petroleum GroupKuwait Real Estate Co Ksc

Salhia Real Estate Co KscGulf Cable & Electrical IndAl Nawadi Holding Co Ksc

Kuwait Finance HouseGulf North Africa Holding Co

Hilal Cement CoOsoul Investment Kscc

Gulf Insurance Group KscKuwait Food Co (Americana)

Umm Al Qaiwain Cement IndustAayan Leasing & Investment

26.00

19.50

385.00

192.00

83.00

100.00

168.00

0.00

26.00

650.00

34.00

290.00

108.00

600.00

76.00

95.00

0.00

42.00

910.00

295.00

57.00

31.00

54.00

1,060.00

0.00

25.00

29.00

96.00

56.00

98.00

17.00

69.00

39.50

0.00

810.00

78.00

112.00

47.50

20.50

76.00

146.00

320.00

89.00

9.50

1,120.00

69.00

320.00

45.50

340.00

345.00

0.00

480.00

27.00

132.00

31.00

0.00

2,300.00

70.00

41.50

-3.70

-4.88

1.32

-3.03

-1.19

0.00

0.00

0.00

4.00

0.00

3.03

7.41

0.00

0.00

-1.30

0.00

0.00

0.00

5.81

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-3.85

0.00

0.00

0.00

-2.00

-10.53

-1.43

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-4.17

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

1.05

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

-1.71

0.00

2.47

1,208,098

651,001

867,460

890,817

164,125

5,000

284,477

-

881,000

20

2,000

31,256

10

98

727,666

68,000

-

157,000

140

1,760

10

500

45,001

5,136

-

1,575,563

593,498

1

4,429,850

67,701

1,612,000

396,100

20

-

571

741,530

1,946

696

270,100

91,592

183

750

130,000

1,061,508

67

40,000

24,576

725,000

5,000

90

-

3,383,915

1,112,630

2,012

14,438

-

26,390

32,500

1,099

KUWAIT

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

8 Gulf TimesTuesday, February 16, 2016

BUSINESS

Apple IncMicrosoft Corp

Exxon Mobil CorpGeneral Electric Co

Johnson & JohnsonJpmorgan Chase & Co

Procter & Gamble Co/ThePfizer Inc

Wal-Mart Stores IncWalt Disney Co/The

Coca-Cola Co/TheVerizon Communications Inc

Visa Inc-Class A SharesHome Depot Inc

Chevron CorpIntel Corp

Merck & Co. Inc.Cisco Systems Inc

Intl Business Machines CorpNike Inc -Cl B

Unitedhealth Group IncMcdonald’s Corp

Boeing Co/The3M Co

United Technologies CorpGoldman Sachs Group Inc

American Express CoDu Pont (E.I.) De Nemours

Caterpillar IncTravelers Cos Inc/The

93.99

50.50

81.03

28.26

101.82

57.49

80.99

29.36

66.18

91.15

43.11

50.11

70.42

116.32

85.43

28.64

49.03

25.11

121.04

56.42

111.82

117.93

108.63

153.96

85.95

146.13

52.66

58.40

63.15

107.49

0.31

1.63

1.80

2.95

0.12

8.33

1.36

0.79

1.32

0.93

1.65

1.46

2.85

2.69

2.94

1.49

0.37

1.74

2.71

0.75

1.08

1.03

0.18

2.18

1.52

3.87

3.03

3.14

2.83

3.58

40,351,381

34,243,324

16,687,846

57,645,610

9,035,013

37,011,352

9,306,055

32,543,171

9,695,461

10,786,093

15,222,405

20,990,916

8,710,244

5,361,634

9,835,059

19,698,998

13,598,265

49,753,603

4,936,514

10,229,492

2,552,095

8,552,812

12,973,383

2,292,155

5,886,307

9,009,284

6,107,686

5,399,520

4,297,399

2,095,910

DJIA

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Wpp PlcWorldpay Group Plc

Wolseley PlcWhitbread Plc

Vodafone Group PlcUnited Utilities Group Plc

Unilever PlcTui Ag-Di

Travis Perkins PlcTesco Plc

Taylor Wimpey PlcStandard Life Plc

Standard Chartered PlcSt James’s Place Plc

Sse PlcSports Direct International

Smiths Group PlcSmith & Nephew Plc

Sky PlcShire Plc

Severn Trent PlcSchroders Plc

Sainsbury (J) PlcSage Group Plc/The

Sabmiller PlcRsa Insurance Group Plc

Royal Mail PlcRoyal Dutch Shell Plc-B ShsRoyal Dutch Shell Plc-A Shs

Royal Bank Of Scotland GroupRolls-Royce Holdings Plc

Rio Tinto PlcRexam Plc

Relx PlcReckitt Benckiser Group Plc

Randgold Resources LtdPrudential Plc

Provident Financial PlcPersimmon Plc

Pearson PlcOld Mutual Plc

Next PlcNational Grid Plc

Mondi PlcMerlin Entertainment

Marks & Spencer Group PlcLondon Stock Exchange Group

Lloyds Banking Group PlcLegal & General Group PlcLand Securities Group Plc

Kingfisher PlcJohnson Matthey Plc

Itv PlcIntu Properties Plc

Intl Consolidated Airline-DiIntertek Group Plc

Intercontinental Hotels GrouInmarsat Plc

Imperial Brands PlcHsbc Holdings Plc

Hikma Pharmaceuticals PlcHargreaves Lansdown Plc

Hammerson PlcGlencore Plc

Glaxosmithkline PlcGkn Plc

Fresnillo PlcExperian Plc

Easyjet PlcDixons Carphone Plc

Direct Line Insurance GroupDiageo Plc

Dcc PlcCrh Plc

Compass Group PlcCoca-Cola Hbc Ag-Di

Centrica PlcCarnival Plc

Capita PlcBurberry Group Plc

Bunzl PlcBt Group Plc

British Land Co PlcBritish American Tobacco Plc

Bp PlcBhp Billiton Plc

Berkeley Group HoldingsBarratt Developments Plc

Barclays PlcBae Systems Plc

Babcock Intl Group PlcAviva Plc

Astrazeneca PlcAssociated British Foods Plc

Ashtead Group PlcArm Holdings Plc

Antofagasta PlcAnglo American Plc

Admiral Group PlcAberdeen Asset Mgmt Plc

3I Group Plc#N/A!

1,440.00

297.10

3,516.00

3,798.00

210.65

922.50

3,018.50

1,017.00

1,768.00

179.10

173.20

343.70

445.35

861.50

1,369.00

387.40

945.50

1,096.00

1,000.00

3,793.00

2,106.00

2,451.00

247.50

574.00

4,150.00

397.10

433.20

1,540.00

1,541.50

245.50

602.50

1,851.00

598.00

1,169.00

6,358.00

5,995.00

1,206.50

3,109.00

1,930.00

779.50

166.60

6,895.00

955.50

1,253.00

402.70

426.70

2,345.00

60.03

213.40

1,025.00

333.40

2,324.00

245.10

282.70

503.00

2,730.00

2,310.00

971.50

3,646.50

444.05

1,873.00

1,172.00

561.50

100.50

1,410.00

265.80

867.50

1,126.00

1,512.00

443.50

367.20

1,805.50

5,415.00

1,743.00

1,222.00

1,335.00

191.50

3,139.00

1,095.00

1,210.00

1,841.00

458.90

676.00

3,787.50

334.95

698.10

3,202.00

555.50

160.90

480.40

892.00

430.80

4,147.00

3,128.00

818.00

904.50

441.90

387.80

1,704.00

229.10

411.20

0.00

3.52

3.41

3.66

2.45

2.53

1.88

2.51

0.89

2.55

1.19

1.41

3.09

3.81

3.80

1.71

2.00

3.22

2.91

2.30

4.23

2.23

2.85

3.43

1.41

0.05

2.03

1.33

0.92

1.05

2.25

-0.58

0.19

0.67

2.63

6.57

-2.60

4.23

2.98

1.85

2.43

4.06

2.00

1.93

2.62

2.10

2.23

2.54

2.65

2.74

2.91

1.68

3.38

1.66

2.50

4.84

2.32

1.58

2.64

2.62

0.83

1.24

3.72

4.95

2.07

3.41

4.07

-3.29

2.18

1.75

2.88

2.63

2.70

1.12

3.75

2.69

2.46

1.00

1.06

1.96

3.07

2.85

2.38

3.60

2.13

0.74

0.22

0.66

1.93

2.35

2.85

2.71

2.77

2.48

2.49

1.61

2.15

1.98

3.70

1.79

3.95

2.57

0.00

960,767

1,813,760

221,782

209,559

18,694,054

350,559

915,975

224,356

225,043

10,975,317

3,383,666

1,452,516

3,458,242

573,636

738,989

404,058

387,323

776,879

929,675

857,989

132,063

154,775

2,797,763

927,595

696,448

951,657

1,181,316

5,210,496

4,025,904

4,058,129

5,699,065

3,135,126

527,043

1,247,014

911,471

289,864

4,514,827

142,149

303,246

670,439

3,736,940

200,915

2,230,531

356,498

333,873

1,809,243

450,432

67,547,365

6,823,519

878,299

1,646,746

122,914

2,363,880

567,278

4,835,301

89,027

245,029

389,523

1,043,815

12,398,944

162,716

407,384

1,141,477

25,415,736

4,452,926

2,168,825

870,371

491,187

408,741

570,520

1,334,359

1,490,666

91,813

554,649

1,633,906

120,499

4,242,752

150,521

714,249

682,858

203,219

6,809,719

2,055,414

760,353

13,302,347

4,090,617

296,334

1,694,628

23,769,654

2,073,204

360,159

4,004,062

868,230

156,638

832,577

1,197,277

1,244,688

7,288,762

223,779

1,725,383

479,152

-

FTSE 100

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

East Japan Railway CoItochu Corp

Fujifilm Holdings CorpYamato Holdings Co Ltd

Chubu Electric Power Co IncMitsubishi Estate Co Ltd

Mitsubishi Heavy IndustriesToshiba Corp

Shiseido Co LtdShionogi & Co Ltd

Tokyo Gas Co LtdTokyo Electron Ltd

Panasonic CorpFujitsu Ltd

Central Japan Railway CoT&D Holdings Inc

Toyota Motor CorpKddi Corp

Nitto Denko Corp

10,145.00

1,316.50

4,299.00

2,349.00

1,493.50

2,122.50

385.70

161.50

2,257.50

4,652.00

557.20

6,538.00

887.40

382.30

21,475.00

1,152.00

6,256.00

2,956.50

5,681.00

10.25

12.19

9.98

7.90

5.62

7.50

9.98

2.22

7.24

7.49

7.15

6.57

10.69

7.30

10.47

12.72

9.56

8.75

8.94

1,802,200

11,898,800

2,853,700

4,387,700

3,439,100

8,026,000

23,804,000

70,534,000

4,450,100

1,665,000

14,947,000

1,328,200

29,405,900

14,197,000

636,700

8,626,700

17,902,900

9,508,200

1,845,100

TOKYO

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Rakuten IncKyocera Corp

Nissan Motor Co LtdHitachi Ltd

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co LtdJfe Holdings Inc

Ana Holdings IncMitsubishi Electric Corp

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial GrHonda Motor Co Ltd

Fast Retailing Co LtdMs&Ad Insurance Group Holdin

Kubota CorpSeven & I Holdings Co Ltd

Inpex CorpResona Holdings Inc

Asahi Kasei CorpKirin Holdings Co Ltd

Marubeni CorpMitsubishi Ufj Financial Gro

Mitsubishi Chemical HoldingsFanuc Corp

Daito Trust Construct Co LtdOtsuka Holdings Co Ltd

Oriental Land Co LtdSekisui House Ltd

Secom Co LtdTokio Marine Holdings Inc

Aeon Co LtdMitsui & Co Ltd

Kao CorpDai-Ichi Life Insurance

Mazda Motor CorpKomatsu Ltd

West Japan Railway CoMurata Manufacturing Co Ltd

Kansai Electric Power Co IncDenso Corp

Sompo Japan Nipponkoa HoldinDaiwa House Industry Co Ltd

Jx Holdings IncNippon Steel & Sumitomo Meta

Suzuki Motor CorpNippon Telegraph & Telephone

Ajinomoto Co IncMitsui Fudosan Co Ltd

Ono Pharmaceutical Co LtdDaikin Industries Ltd

Bank Of Yokohama Ltd/TheToray Industries IncAstellas Pharma Inc

Bridgestone CorpSony CorpHoya Corp

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust HoldinJapan Tobacco Inc

Osaka Gas Co LtdSumitomo Electric Industries

Daiwa Securities Group IncSoftbank Group Corp

Mizuho Financial Group IncNomura Holdings Inc

Daiichi Sankyo Co LtdFuji Heavy Industries Ltd

Ntt Docomo IncSumitomo Realty & Developmen

Sumitomo Metal Mining Co LtdOrix Corp

Asahi Group Holdings LtdKeyence Corp

Nidec CorpIsuzu Motors Ltd

Unicharm CorpShin-Etsu Chemical Co Ltd

Smc CorpMitsubishi CorpNintendo Co Ltd

Eisai Co LtdSumitomo Corp

Canon IncJapan Airlines Co Ltd

991.00

4,977.00

990.30

465.50

5,498.00

1,339.50

311.40

1,057.00

3,156.00

2,955.50

33,220.00

2,859.00

1,430.00

4,648.00

945.70

409.50

703.80

1,593.00

547.20

484.80

610.30

16,545.00

14,900.00

4,200.00

8,145.00

1,773.00

8,197.00

3,723.00

1,393.00

1,294.50

5,778.00

1,340.50

1,611.00

1,725.50

7,035.00

12,750.00

1,307.50

4,260.00

2,959.00

3,015.00

456.50

1,926.00

2,877.50

4,910.00

2,892.00

2,501.50

19,010.00

7,504.00

492.50

938.40

1,606.00

3,984.00

2,447.00

4,003.00

319.00

4,532.00

449.30

1,364.50

646.80

4,400.00

168.30

495.00

2,258.50

3,767.00

2,653.00

2,908.00

1,123.00

1,366.50

3,542.00

55,400.00

7,077.00

1,089.00

2,315.00

5,675.00

27,120.00

1,730.50

15,750.00

7,133.00

1,087.50

3,219.00

4,062.00

-1.29

6.12

6.71

8.00

8.08

8.02

10.07

11.44

10.37

8.00

2.56

12.78

8.91

5.06

7.62

8.59

8.95

8.37

10.17

8.65

12.33

7.37

5.26

11.29

6.47

10.02

6.29

11.13

-3.26

10.03

7.32

12.41

8.41

10.15

11.49

9.16

6.56

9.51

10.10

9.54

7.61

7.93

7.73

6.60

5.53

10.27

7.31

8.80

8.65

7.44

7.28

11.60

8.42

8.07

9.28

9.87

8.03

8.77

9.42

5.67

8.44

10.84

6.18

8.50

6.33

8.73

8.29

8.24

6.43

7.45

8.00

11.70

12.93

9.51

10.51

10.43

9.76

3.92

10.29

7.80

10.02

21,798,900

2,995,700

27,362,600

37,328,000

3,125,600

6,807,700

29,287,000

8,787,000

21,355,000

7,807,800

1,016,700

2,677,800

7,853,100

4,515,000

12,262,400

21,356,700

7,428,000

5,447,700

15,777,000

166,270,400

9,093,900

1,973,900

729,700

3,112,300

2,200,200

4,277,700

1,378,400

5,388,700

11,645,500

18,055,000

2,395,800

13,987,300

13,159,500

6,074,000

1,300,500

1,631,100

4,259,100

2,895,800

3,010,800

3,766,800

17,892,800

5,205,300

2,236,700

5,813,100

2,171,000

8,331,000

653,200

2,902,100

12,476,000

9,065,000

11,900,200

5,009,900

13,347,800

1,715,000

37,812,000

6,921,700

11,896,000

4,065,200

16,750,000

9,986,100

290,219,800

54,239,700

4,169,400

6,010,100

8,798,300

3,777,000

5,439,000

14,736,700

2,089,500

372,800

1,777,900

5,907,100

6,195,000

1,829,900

400,400

9,201,300

902,800

2,125,400

7,490,200

7,957,600

4,008,900

TOKYO

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Aluminum Corp Of China Ltd-HBank Of East Asia

Bank Of China Ltd-HBank Of Communications Co-H

Belle International HoldingsBoc Hong Kong Holdings Ltd

Cathay Pacific AirwaysCk Hutchison Holdings Ltd

China Coal Energy Co-HChina Construction Bank-H

China Life Insurance Co-HChina Merchants Hldgs Intl

China Mobile LtdChina Overseas Land & Invest

China Petroleum & Chemical-HChina Resources Beer Holdin

China Resources Land LtdChina Resources Power Holdin

China Shenhua Energy Co-HChina Unicom Hong Kong Ltd

Citic LtdClp Holdings Ltd

Cnooc LtdCosco Pacific Ltd

Esprit Holdings LtdFih Mobile Ltd

Hang Lung Properties LtdHang Seng Bank Ltd

Henderson Land Development

2.40

23.10

2.92

4.50

5.04

19.66

11.60

93.50

2.51

4.53

17.18

21.30

83.10

21.75

4.27

12.64

17.48

12.30

11.10

8.35

10.36

66.80

7.96

8.80

7.50

2.72

13.46

126.50

40.10

3.45

2.44

2.82

5.39

2.86

3.58

2.11

1.69

5.46

5.10

5.27

6.50

1.09

4.07

3.64

1.61

1.75

4.95

4.72

3.60

2.37

0.83

6.42

2.44

2.88

3.82

1.05

1.93

3.22

15,508,167

5,442,663

397,162,123

31,974,454

13,692,198

10,952,910

2,560,997

7,392,584

7,250,594

246,792,948

58,276,488

3,108,059

11,178,636

24,066,916

67,762,991

8,405,187

15,266,618

7,921,310

13,830,775

29,428,014

15,899,087

4,401,891

108,436,996

7,677,160

1,722,242

5,283,819

5,829,834

2,173,681

4,514,948

HONG KONG

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Hong Kong & China GasHong Kong Exchanges & Clear

Hsbc Holdings PlcHutchison Whampoa Ltd

Ind & Comm Bk Of China-HLi & Fung Ltd

Mtr CorpNew World Development

Petrochina Co Ltd-HPing An Insurance Group Co-H

Power Assets Holdings LtdSino Land Co

Sun Hung Kai PropertiesSwire Pacific Ltd - Cl ATencent Holdings Ltd

Wharf Holdings Ltd

13.94

167.50

50.25

0.00

3.91

4.57

35.55

6.16

4.67

32.55

73.15

10.16

82.60

73.70

138.20

36.70

2.05

2.76

4.47

0.00

4.83

-1.08

0.00

1.82

3.78

6.37

1.53

0.40

2.23

2.79

3.68

1.10

6,625,012

5,381,943

27,861,491

-

230,828,071

13,729,491

2,393,046

13,486,288

92,044,719

53,927,103

3,075,613

3,876,029

5,138,106

895,251

21,699,418

4,625,013

HONG KONG

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Zee Entertainment EnterpriseYes Bank Ltd

Wipro LtdVedanta Ltd

Ultratech Cement LtdTech Mahindra Ltd

Tata Steel LtdTata Power Co Ltd

Tata Motors LtdTata Consultancy Svcs Ltd

Sun Pharmaceutical IndusState Bank Of India

Reliance Industries LtdPunjab National Bank

Power Grid Corp Of India LtdOil & Natural Gas Corp Ltd

Ntpc LtdMaruti Suzuki India Ltd

Mahindra & Mahindra LtdLupin Ltd

Larsen & Toubro LtdKotak Mahindra Bank Ltd

Itc LtdInfosys Ltd

Indusind Bank LtdIdea Cellular Ltd

Icici Bank LtdHousing Development Finance

Hindustan Unilever LtdHindalco Industries Ltd

Hero Motocorp LtdHdfc Bank Limited

Hcl Technologies LtdGrasim Industries Ltd

Gail India LtdDr. Reddy’s Laboratories

Coal India LtdCipla Ltd

Cairn India LtdBosch Ltd

Bharti Airtel LtdBharat Petroleum Corp Ltd

Bharat Heavy ElectricalsBank Of Baroda

Bajaj Auto LtdAxis Bank Ltd

Asian Paints LtdAmbuja Cements Ltd

Adani Ports And Special EconAcc Ltd

383.90

753.40

525.75

75.00

2,802.35

430.30

246.70

59.55

317.25

2,269.15

850.20

167.85

946.75

76.50

138.70

200.35

124.80

3,711.25

1,226.80

1,798.45

1,149.40

625.25

303.70

1,091.75

823.70

109.20

203.50

1,080.45

804.70

67.00

2,507.35

973.60

827.10

3,472.40

334.15

2,859.05

324.25

539.70

125.00

16,447.15

318.90

779.75

107.95

139.35

2,342.10

417.65

858.70

198.00

191.15

1,256.55

3.62

3.43

1.63

18.58

1.25

0.07

13.43

5.03

6.33

1.91

0.34

8.43

4.43

3.87

0.25

3.67

0.69

4.55

5.28

2.40

9.09

0.52

1.20

0.65

1.45

-0.41

5.14

-0.30

-0.97

10.02

0.73

0.23

3.61

2.62

2.83

0.41

7.07

2.10

5.09

3.13

-1.74

0.90

3.35

22.56

1.64

6.79

0.44

1.72

7.36

2.91

4,003,524

4,033,304

1,018,346

43,265,560

189,852

1,986,933

16,291,794

12,525,983

20,487,491

1,993,985

3,793,181

40,468,041

4,696,771

17,042,091

4,829,176

5,237,063

3,919,175

1,260,399

963,062

1,098,133

4,348,862

1,344,072

8,238,107

4,057,751

2,258,899

4,915,449

33,945,010

4,424,267

1,285,641

19,140,404

435,330

2,970,566

1,411,601

65,110

1,807,724

419,328

5,593,621

2,998,401

6,585,984

17,685

5,370,866

1,620,495

16,004,716

62,391,655

331,272

14,736,502

762,679

1,360,304

9,547,861

142,343

SENSEX

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

WORLD INDICESIndices Lt Price Change

GCC INDICESIndices Lt Price Change

Dow Jones Indus. AvgS&P 500 Index

Nasdaq Composite IndexS&P/Tsx Composite Index

Mexico Bolsa IndexBrazil Bovespa Stock Idx

Ftse 100 IndexCac 40 Index

Dax IndexIbex 35 Tr

Nikkei 225Japan Topix

Hang Seng IndexAll Ordinaries Indx

Nzx All IndexBse Sensex 30 Index

Nse S&P Cnx Nifty IndexStraits Times Index

Karachi All Share IndexJakarta Composite Index

15,973.84

1,864.78

4,337.51

12,381.24

42,416.44

40,452.83

5,835.59

4,133.38

9,226.92

8,179.40

16,022.58

1,292.23

18,918.14

4,893.44

1,161.97

23,554.12

7,162.95

2,607.90

22,159.65

4,740.73

+313.66

+35.70

+70.68

+293.87

+57.18

+644.78

+127.99

+138.32

+259.41

+258.60

+1,069.97

+95.95

+598.56

+76.84

+18.08

+568.00

+182.00

+67.95

+246.61

+26.33

Doha Securities MarketSaudi Tadawul

Kuwait Stocks ExchangeBahrain Stock Exchage

Oman Stock MarketAbudhabi Stock MarketDubai Financial Market

9,857.20

5,691.25

5,139.13

1,166.85

5,349.53

4,107.42

3,003.95

+256.23

+133.33

+8.08

+0.80

-15.76

+32.19

-7.52

“Information contained herein is believed to be reliable and had been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. The accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed. This publication is for providing information only and is not intended as an off er or solicitation for a purchase or sale of any of the financial instruments mentioned. Gulf Times and Doha Bank or any of their employees shall not be held accountable and will not accept any losses or liabilities for actions based on this data.”

CURRENCIESDOLLAR QATAR RIYAL SAUDI RIYAL UAE DIRHAMS BAHRAINI

DINARKUWAITI

DINAR

A man walks past the London Stock Exchange in the City of London. European stock markets pushed sharply higher yesterday with London closing 2% higher.

Europe equities rally as China avoids meltdown AFPLondon

European stock markets pushed sharply higher yesterday, build-ing on Asian gains after Shang-

hai avoided a sharp selloff on its return from holidays and banks were buoyed by HSBC’s decision to stay in London.

London closed 2% higher, with Frankfurt and Paris up around 3%.

The mood on markets brightened as Japanese investors shrugged off an economic contraction to propel Tokyo stocks more than 7% yesterday, leading an Asia recovery after last week’s hor-ror show.

Shanghai fell 0.6%, but losses were modest considering traders were play-ing catch-up with last week’s blood-bath across world stock markets.

“No severe selloff in Chinese mar-kets, after a week’s holiday, has allowed London-listed fi nancial stocks to break out of the doghouse and lead the FTSE higher, buoyed by HSBC’s decision to stay in the City,” CMC Markets analyst Jasper Lawler told AFP.

Markets had jumped higher last Fri-day, ending a brutal week on a positive note following solid US and German

economic data and an increase in oil prices.

Trading in the European afternoon session was dominated by comments by European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi as US markets were closed for the Presidents Day holiday.

Draghi said the ECB “will not hesi-tate to act” if needed to stimulate the economy and push up infl ation in the eurozone at its next monetary policy meeting in March.

While that helped European equities maintain their gains, the euro seemed to take Draghi’s words as a statement of intent, the currency tumbling just shy of 1% against the dollar” said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.

Asia-focused banking titan HSBC saw its share price rise 1.4% to 446.40 pence in London yesterday, as inves-tors welcomed news it would keep its headquarters in the British capital.

The lender’s Hong Kong-listed stock meanwhile rallied more than four%.

The news also lifted other banking stocks in London, with Lloyds Banking Group up 2.3% and Royal Bank of Scot-land adding 2.6%.

“HSBC’s decision to keep its head-quarters in London is a fi llip for the City and the Treasury,” said Russ

Mould, investment director at trading fi rm AJ Bell. “The government will be relieved that HSBC’s board decided unanimously to stay in the UK.”

Asian markets enjoyed a broadly healthy start to the week, but another poor trade report reinforced fears over China’s outlook.

Experts warned the gains were un-likely to be sustained for a long period, with the concerns that have wiped tril-lions off markets already this year—in-cluding the weak global economy and China’s slowdown—still unresolved.

Tokyo soared 7.2% by the close after losses of more than 11% last week that were fuelled by a surging yen as dealers fl ed into safe-haven investments.

News that the Japanese economy shrank in the fi nal quarter of last year — while dealing another blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s attempts to kickstart growth — fanned calls for the nation’s central bank to further ease monetary policy.

Mike van Dulken, analyst at Accendo Markets, said sentiment was buoyed yesterday by “hopes that the recent banks-led global market rout was over-done and more stimulus was primed af-ter poor Chinese trade data and Japanese GDP and industrial production.”

BUSINESS

Gulf Times Tuesday, February 16, 201614

HSBC keeps base in London, rejects move to Hong Kong ReutersLondon/Hong Kong

Banking group HSBC Holdings has decided to keep its headquarters in Britain, rejecting the option

of shifting its centre of gravity back to main profi t-generating hub Hong Kong after a 10-month review.

The decision by HSBC’s board, which Europe’s biggest bank said was unanimous, gives a boost to London’s status as a global fi nancial centre, un-der threat since the fi nancial crisis of 2007-09 from tougher regulation and rising costs.

Yet Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver immediately warned that the bank could not stick with the status quo were Britain to vote in favour of leav-ing the European Union in a promised referendum, saying it would consider moving around 1,000 employees from London to Paris.

Some investors had encouraged HSBC to consider moving its HQ from Britain, partly because of a tax on banks’ global balance sheets brought in after the fi nancial crisis which had cost it $1.1bn in 2014.

But following extensive lobbying by the banking industry, British fi nance minister George Osborne said in July he would halve the levy and, crucially for HSBC, no longer apply it to the over-seas assets of British banks, part of ef-forts to help to keep Britain an attrac-tive place for banks.

The bank denied using the threat of moving to force the British government to rein in the tax.

“We had no negotiation with the government,” HSBC Chairman Douglas Flint told BBC radio on Monday. “The government was very well aware of our view ... but there certainly was no pres-sure put on, or no negotiation”.

The waiver on applying the levy to HSBC’s overseas assets will only come fully into eff ect in 2021 at the earliest, leaving the bank exposed to shifting political winds in Britain in the interim, said Investec analyst Ian Gordon in a research note, who nonetheless kept a “buy” rating on its shares. Asked if the government had caved in to threats by the banks, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister David Cameron said Os-borne’s budget last year had set out that the levy was introduced to raise rev-enue and stabilise bank balance sheets. “It served its purpose, it worked but it risks doing harm if left unchanged, he (Osborne) said that clearly last sum-mer.”

A Reuters analysis showed that mov-

ing to Hong Kong might have actually increased the bank’s tax burden.

“Arguably, a more benign approach in the UK to the regulation of banks, and a less aggressive tone by politi-cians, also played an important part in the decision,” said Guy de Blonay, a fund manager at Jupiter Asset Manage-ment which holds shares in HSBC.

“The bank can now turn its attention to succession planning, likely to revolve around its Chairman Douglas Flint ini-tially (2017), and then CEO Stuart Gul-liver (2018)”.

The decision to stay in London comes after a tumultuous period for European banks, whose shares have tumbled on fears of a global economic

slowdown and the impact on earnings from a prolonged period of low or neg-ative interest rates.

HSBC shares are down more than 30% from last April when the group began its headquarters review, hit by China’s fl agging economic growth and market turmoil.

For Hong Kong, the chance of lur-ing back HSBC, short for Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp, to its birthplace and to the heart of its Asian growth strategy has been lost for now.

“London is one of the world’s lead-ing international fi nancial centres and home to a large pool of highly skilled, international talent,” HSBC said in a statement. “It remains therefore ide-ally positioned to be the home base for a global fi nancial institution such as HSBC.”

Analysts estimated the cost of mov-ing out of London at between $1.5bn and $2.5bn, a hefty bill to swallow un-

less HSBC was able to achieve clear tax and regulatory advantages.

Hong Kong, where HSBC was found-ed about 150 years ago and where it em-ploys more than 20,000, was consid-ered the strongest relocation option as it accounts for 46% of HSBC’s pretax profi t.

But gyrations in Chinese markets coupled with concerns about China’s growing infl uence over Hong Kong had helped make it more likely the bank would stick to London.

HSBC said it remained committed to its Asia “Pivot” strategy, under which it plans to invest more into China’s Pearl River Delta north of Hong Kong which already accounts for half of HSBC’s China revenue.

The Hong Kong Monetary Author-ity, which had earlier said it would wel-come an HSBC move to Hong Kong, said it respected the board’s decision to maintain the status quo.

Deal or no deal; how to think and write about Opec By John Kemp London

“Will Saudi Arabia, Iran and Russia reach a deal to boost oil prices by cutting production?” is precisely the sort of forecasting challenge tackled in Philip Tetlock’s book on “Superforecasting”. I have no idea if Tetlock and his colleagues have put this particular question to the panel of forecasters assembled by the Good Judgment Project but their views would be fascinating. The question of whether there will be a deal has polarised opinion among oil analysts, traders and journalists, all of whom can cite reasons why an agreement will or will not be reached. Passions run high on the subject and perspectives are becoming increasingly entrenched, which should make a

neutral observer cautious about whether the professional forecasters are becoming overconfident. Like all forecasts in politics, economics and international relations, any prediction about whether there will be a deal must be probabilistic (“Superforecasting: the art and science of prediction”, Tetlock and Gardner, 2015). There is no clear answer. There must be some chance of a deal happening, however slim, so the probability must be greater than zero, but it is not certain to occur, so the probability must be less than one. Most of the expert commentary at the moment employs phrases such as “unlikely”, “highly unlikely” or “remains improbable” to convey the low probability of a deal. The problem is that these words, common in everyday speech, can convey widely diff erent estimates about

the probability of an event happening. Does unlikely correspond to a probability of less than 50%, less than 40%, less than 30% or something else? What do highly unlikely and improbable actually mean? The US intelligence community has been grappling ambiguity in the way ordinary language is used to express probability for over 50 years (“Words of estimative probability”, Kent, 1964). Sherman Kent, the father of modern intelligence analysis, even tried to map the terms used in common writing by analysts into numerical probabilities. Kent’s eff orts were never entirely accepted but have powerfully shaped the way in which intelligence analysts think about and express their forecasts. The best forecasts express likelihood and uncertainty in percentage terms so their accuracy can be evaluated after the fact and the forecasting process has improved over time (“Verification

of forecasts expressed in terms of probability”, Brier, 1950). Expressing forecasts in percentage terms becomes particularly important when the probability is likely to change over time in response to unfolding events. Good forecasts are regularly reviewed and updated in the light of new information that confirms or contradicts the original assessment (“Psychology of intelligence analysis”, Heuer, 1999). Any production-cutting deal between Opec and non-Opec countries could have a significant impact on oil prices if it were perceived as credible. So the probability of a deal must therefore weigh heavily in any forecast for oil prices even if the likelihood remains only 5%, 10% or 20%. The problem is that most major commentators have avoided issuing a forecast in percentage terms, making

it hard to assess the consequences and accuracy. Percentage forecasts would enable traders, investors and policymakers to understand how the forecast changes over time in response to comments from key participants and incoming data on supply, demand and stocks. If crude oil stocks around the world continue climbing, does that make a production-cutting deal more or less likely, and if so by how much? If US shale output starts to fall more quickly, does that increase or reduce the chance of a production-cutting deal? If Russia’s economy slows more than expected, or Saudi Arabia’s reserves fall faster than expected, what does that do to the prospect of a deal? The only way to think consistently about the oil market outlook is in terms of probabilities (and the degrees of uncertainty that surround them).

Given what we know about the past activities of the US intelligence community, it is probable or almost certain (using Kent’s terminology) that an intelligence analyst in Washington has already been asked to produce an estimate of the chance of a production-cutting deal for the president and other senior policymakers. The intelligence community’s forecast is almost certainly couched in probabilistic terms. The public discussion in the media and the markets should follow the same track. The next time someone says a production deal is unlikely or growing more probable, challenge them to put a percentage figure on that statement, and ask what would cause them to update that assessment.

John Kemp is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own.

A Swiss International aircraft flies past the HSBC headquarters building in the Canary Wharf financial district in east London. HSBC Holdings has decided to keep its headquarters in Britain, rejecting the option of shifting its centre of gravity back to main profit-generating hub Hong Kong after a 10-month review.

UK rate cut? 10% risk for economists at odds with markets BloombergLondon

Mark Carney has the back-ing of economists when he insists the next move in UK

interest rates is more likely to be up than down.

There’s only a 10% chance the Bank of England chief and his offi cials will cut the benchmark rate from its record- low 0.5%, according to Bloomberg’s monthly survey of economists. It’s a stand squarely at odds with interest-rate futures markets, which are pricing a more than 60% possibility.

Diff erences in focus may help ex-plain the gap. Economists looking at domestic data and the BoE’s latest jawboning predict a rate increase will

come in the fourth quarter of this year. Investors - close to panic mode amid international fi nancial- market tur-moil - are all but ruling out a hike for the next two years and are zeroing in on the case for a cut.

This week’s slew of UK data on prices and wages may help narrow the divide.

“The concerns that are driving this are very diffi cult to forecast and aren’t centered on our home turf,” said Ross Walker, an economist at Royal Bank of Scotland Group in London. “The market pricing does look extreme, but I wouldn’t be too dismissive about the way the risks are balanced.

The BoE’s hurdle for a rate cut is high at the moment because they’d need to see clearer evidence of a deterioration in the activity data.”

Only two of the 31 economists sur-

veyed - Jane Foley at Rabobank and Aurel BGC’s Jean-Louis Mourier - put the odds of the BoE lowering rates at more than 50%. Three said there is no chance.

Offi cial statistics point to a slow-down but not another recession as cheap borrowing costs and record employment keep consumers spend-ing. Weaker-than-forecast industrial production data last week underscored doubts about the global outlook.

Policy makers - who have kept the key rate unchanged since 2009 - see a darkening international picture off -setting resilient domestic growth and have signalled a willingness to keep policy loose until cost pressures in the economy start to build.

A report Tuesday is forecast to show inflation edged up to 0.3% in

January, still well below the central bank’s 2% target.

Further clues will come tomorrow, when labour-market data are released. BoE Deputy Governor Ben Broadbent has said there are some signs weak infl ation is holding back pay settle-ments. A BoE staff blog yesterday said low infl ation has dulled the response of pay to increased recruitment dif-fi culties. Earnings growth excluding bonuses probably slowed to 1.8% in the fourth quarter, the weakest pace in al-most a year, according to a Bloomberg survey.

“The BoE is very conscious as we go into the spring wage round that we may have some form of wage pause” in response to very low infl ation, said Bill O’Neill, head of the UK investment offi ce at UBS Wealth Management. “If

there was a second-round eff ect com-ing through - if there was evidence of that - I think there would be a response. We don’t think that would occur, but clearly there is a meaningful risk.”

The Chartered Institute of Person-nel and Development said yesterday its survey of more than 1,000 employers and human- resources professionals showed a rising proportion of fi rms feel no compulsion to match or raise their previous pay awards as low infl ation is boosting real wages.

Signs of a tightening labour market will probably be on display elsewhere, with Wednesday’s fi gures forecast to show unemployment falling to 5%, the lowest rate in more than a decade.

A separate release on Friday is pre-dicted to show retail sales rebounding in January.

Templeton’s $5.9bn bet on Brazil bondspaying off in 2016 BloombergLondon

While most investors were beating a furi-ous retreat from Bra-

zil in the fi nal three months of last year, Franklin Templeton’s Michael Hasenstab was busy more than doubling his invest-ments in the crisis-ridden na-tion’s debt to $5.9bn.

So far this year, the wager is paying off . The real- denomi-nated bonds have returned 4.7% in dollar terms in 2016, versus an average loss of 0.13% for lo-cal-currency debt in emerging markets. The gains are in stark contrast to last year’s rout, when Brazilian securities plummeted 33% as the currency sank, a re-cession deepened and impeach-ment proceedings against Presi-dent Dilma Rousseff began.

Hasenstab’s Brazil bet is fl ourishing four months after he said in a blog post that a selloff in emerging markets was creating “multi-decade opportunities.” He isn’t the only fund man-ager at Franklin Templeton who shares that view. Just last week, Mark Mobius, the chairman of the fi rm’s emerging-markets group, said at an event in Sao Paulo he was increasing invest-ments in Brazil in anticipation of a turnaround.

Many investors still remain skeptical, especially with Brazil poised for its deepest two-year recession in more than a century.

“It’s too early to get back in the game there,” said Sean Newman, a money manager at Invesco Ad-visers, which oversees $776bn. Assets are “going to get cheaper.”

He said the real hasn’t fully adjusted to a level that refl ects Brazil’s dire economic scenario. The real has lost 0.3% in 2016, after having plunged 33% last year.

Lisa Gallegos, a spokeswoman for Templeton, said the money manager wasn’t available to comment on Brazil.

Hasenstab boosted Brazilian bond ownership from $2.4bn at the end of September, making the country’s notes his third-biggest holding, data compiled by Bloomberg show. In the last three months of 2015, he en-tered into new positions in real-denominated bonds due January 2019 and 2025, both of which had slumped to record lows in September. Data on any changes to the fund’s holdings in 2016 isn’t yet publicly available.

Hasenstab is no stranger to contrarian trades. In his 21 years at Franklin Templeton, he’s made big bets on assets when they were tumbling. In July 2011, he famously snapped up Irish bonds as Europe’s debt crisis worsened, making billions on the trade when the country re-ceived an international bailout eight months later. But Hasen-stab’s wagers don’t always pay off . Just this year, his investment in Mongolian bonds has back-fi red as political instability roils the nation.

The volatility rocking global fi nancial markets has also hurt Hasenstab’s Franklin Templeton Global Bond Fund.

BUSINESS15Gulf Times

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

ECB ready to act if market turmoilthreatens growthoutlook: Draghi BloombergFrankfurt

The European Central Bank (ECB)

will take measures to ensure its

monetary policy reaches the real

economy if that appears threat-

ened by financial-market turbu-

lence, President Mario Draghi said.

The euro fell.

“In the light of the recent

financial turmoil, we will analyse

the state of transmission of

our monetary impulses by the

financial system and in particular

by banks,” Draghi told European

Parliament lawmakers in Brussels

yesterday. In addition, the ECB will

examine the impact of renewed

declines in energy prices and “if

either of these two factors entail

downward risks to price stability,

we will not hesitate to act,” he

said.

The Frankfurt-based ECB faces

its next policy decision on March

10 at a time when price gains in

the currency bloc are far below

the central bank’s goal of just

under 2%, depressed by slowing

global growth and an energy sup-

ply glut. Bank-led equity sell-off s

in the past week now threaten

to choke off a fragile recovery in

credit and stymie the euro area’s

recovery.

Referring to the global econo-

my, Draghi said that “a continu-

ation of the rebalancing process

is needed to secure sustainable

growth over the medium term.”

He also said this “could imply

some headwinds in the short term,

which will require close monitor-

ing of the related risks.”

As Draghi presented his

remarks, the euro fell and bank

stocks initially declined before

recovering. The Euro Stoxx Banks

Index rose 3.6% at 4:24 pm Frank-

furt time and the single currency

slid 1.1% to trade at $1.1135.

Attempting to draw a line under

the past week’s turmoil, which saw

one-day stock-price declines of

more than 10% at both Deutsche

Bank and Societe Generale, Draghi

underlined the ECB’s eff orts since

2014 to repair confidence in the

region’s banking sector.

“The fall in bank equity prices

was amplified by perceptions

that banks may have to do more

to adjust their business mod-

els to the lower growth/lower

interest-rate environment and to

the strengthened international

regulatory framework that has

been put in place since the crisis,”

he said. “However, we have to

acknowledge that the regulatory

overhaul since the start of the

crisis has laid the foundations for

durably increasing the resilience

not only of individual institutions

but also of the financial system as

a whole.”

Even though the ECB combed

the balance sheets of the euro-

area’s largest banks in 2014 prior

to becoming their supervisor,

investor concerns in recent weeks

have focused especially on the

pile of bad loans still present

at Italian lenders, and political

uncertainty over plans to reduce

them. Italian bank stocks have lost

almost 30% since the beginning

of the year.

Draghi said euro-area banks

are in a “good position” to bring

down non-performing loans in an

orderly manner over the next few

years, and added that they won’t

face additional legal capital re-

quirements. He dismissed a report

by Reuters yesterday that the cen-

tral bank is discussing including

asset-backed securities based on

Italian non-performing loans in its

asset- purchase programme.

“As far as I know, however, I’m

not aware of any talk or conversa-

tion,” he said. “We are not talking

about buying anything.”

Questioned about the UK’s

current negotiations with the

European Union over its contin-

ued place in the bloc, Draghi said

it should be an opportunity to

deepen the monetary union.

The ideal goal in the negotia-

tions should be to “anchor the UK

in the European Union,” Draghi

said, so that “both can draw ben-

efit from this.” He added that the

ECB isn’t party to the discussions.

Storm clouds gather on Italy’s budget horizon ReutersRome

Italy’s public fi nance diffi culties are set to deepen as its economy weak-ens, and it may be punished by the

markets even if Prime Minister Matteo Renzi reaches a compromise with the European Commission over this year’s budget.

Gross domestic product grew just 0.1% in the last quarter of 2015, data showed on Friday, as the recovery from a three-year recession petered out.

The offi cial forecast of 1.6% growth in 2016 already looks far out of reach. Tax revenues may also disappoint, making it less likely Italy can bring down its huge debt for the fi rst time in eight years as Renzi has promised.

In another blow, offi cials say privati-sations of the state railways and public air traffi c control company are unlikely to go ahead this year as planned due to diffi cult market conditions.

Before these setbacks, Renzi was al-ready locked in an unusually heated row with Brussels over his 2016 budget, which the Commission says risks break-ing the EU’s fi scal rules after he raised targets for the budget defi cit and public debt.

It will give a defi nitive verdict in the spring, and may ask for adjustments. Renzi has demanded more leeway in the rules and attacked the Commission’s “budget pedants”.

Experience suggests a face-saving

compromise will be reached. But the Commission knows it risks losing cred-ibility.

“Italy has benefi ted more than any other country from budget fl exibility,” its Deputy President Jyrki Katainen said this month. “If we go on with this fl exibil-ity of the rules we won’t have any more rules.”

But even if a deal is done, it will only push back the problems for a few more months, and they are getting bigger all the time.

Having delayed promised debt re-ductions for four years now, Rome would have to make a much bigger fiscal adjustment to meet its commit-ments in 2017.

Its public debt ratio of more than 130% of economic output is the second-high-est in the euro zone after Greece’s, and unless Renzi wins even more conces-sions he will have to fi nd cuts of more than €15bn ($17bn) in 2017.

Rome has not seen that kind of en-trenchment since the height of the 2011 debt crisis when former prime minister Mario Monti passed draconian measures to save the country from bankruptcy.

But Renzi faces a toxic combination of faltering growth, stalled privatisa-tions and, despite the shield of the Eu-ropean Central Bank’s bond-buying pro-gramme, higher borrowing costs.

There is also a growing risk of a full-blown Italian banking crisis. The coun-try’s lenders, burdened with some 200bn euros of bad loans, have lost almost 30% of their value on the Milan stock market

this year. The gap between the yields on 10-year government bonds (BTPs) yields and safer German Bunds has climbed to more than 1.3 percentage points from 0.9 points in December.

Some analysts fear Italy could follow Portugal, whose bond yields posted their biggest weekly rise for more than three years last week as investors fretted over Lisbon’s public fi nances and the health of the world economy.

“Italy is defi nitely vulnerable. As long as there is a risk-off environment, there is a risk that the BTP-Bund spread could widen further,” said Daniel Lenz, a bond strategist at DZ Bank.

Renzi must call an election by early 2018 at the latest.

He has seen austerity-minded govern-ments in Lisbon and Madrid thrown out of offi ce recently and does not want to follow suit.

His approval ratings have slumped over the last year and domestic hostility to cuts remains high due to the listless economy and high unemployment. He is under pressure from opposition par-ties eager to cash in on the strong rise in anti-European sentiment among ordi-nary Italians.

Nevertheless, Italy signed the tougher “fi scal compact” that the eurozone drew up in 2012 in response to the debt cri-sis, mandating steep annual debt falls. It even made annual balanced budgets a constitutional requirement.

But Rome has yet to put the rules into practice. Its debt has climbed steadily and parliament has voted each year to al-

low itself a special exemption to the bal-anced budget law. This year, if the Com-mission does not force Renzi to amend his budget, the defi cit will fall marginally to 2.4% of gross domestic product from 2.6% in 2015.

After cutting taxes by more than 5bn euros this year, Renzi has slated deeper cuts to corporate and income tax in 2017. At the same time, he has pledged to nar-row the defi cit in 2017 down to 1.1% of GDP. How he hopes to perform this feat has not yet been explained.

Gustavo Piga, an economics professor at Rome’s Tor Vergata University, urged him to take his dispute with the Com-mission even further and renege on his budget commitments for 2017.

“Italy needs real fi scal stimulus,” he said. “Renzi should tackle the 20% of wasteful spending in the state sector, while launching a programme of public investment and hiking the budget defi cit target to 4%.”

Renzi is unlikely to follow that advice, even with problems mounting from all sides.

Although growth is weakening, Italy has been out of recession for more than a year, meaning that under current rules justifi cation for more EU budget leeway has all but disappeared.

“There is no more room for fl exibility, and it wouldn’t be good for Italy either,” said Daniel Gros, head of the Brussels-based economic think-tank CEPS. “Now, with markets more averse to risk, Italy would be well advised to be very prudent.”

Swiss tit for tat with ECB hinges on currency market fallout BloombergNew York

Thomas Jordan’s next move once again hinges on the franc.

With the currency near its weakest level in a year, the Swiss National Bank president has proven he can hold his ground against markets. But global growth concerns and an equity rout could increase pressure, making Jordan’s job more complicated.

He also has to contend with the European Cen-tral Bank, which may pile on more stimulus next month and, potentially, weaken the euro versus the franc. While a majority of economists in Bloomb-erg’s monthly survey said the SNB may need to cut rates further below zero or intervene more heav-ily if the ECB acts, the caveat for action would be a surge in the franc.

“The reaction of the SNB will probably depend on the reaction of the exchange rate,” said Maxime Botteron, an economist at Credit Suisse Group AG in Zurich.

The most likely response to more ECB easing “is through foreign exchange interventions. However, we would not rule out an interest rate cut if the franc were to appreciate sharply.”

Jordan and his fellow rate setters have been con-tending with the fallout from euro-area decision-making for years, though they avoided having to adjust policy in December when new ECB meas-ures fell short of expectations.

That announcement failed to push the franc out of what economists typically consider the SNB’s comfort zone of below 1.07 per euro.

Yet with euro-area infl ation so weak, ECB Presi-dent Mario Draghi may now over-deliver at the central bank’s next meeting on March 10. That could mean the SNB, scheduled to meet a week later, is in for a fi ght this time around, though the franc’s recent weakness against the euro has given it more leeway.

The Swiss currency’s reaction to the latest gyra-tions in global markets has raised questions about

its traditional role as a haven. It traded as low 1.11997 per euro on February 4, and while it has appreciated since, it’s still far from the levels of a year ago after the SNB abandoned its cap.

It traded little changed at 1.10083 per euro in Zurich yesterday.

Soeren Hettler, a senior foreign-exchange ana-lyst at DZ Bank in Frankfurt, said it’s not simply about a reaction to the ECB, but will depend on the ripples into the currency market.

“If the franc appreciates markedly against the euro, the SNB will take its own measures,” he said. “If it does not, nothing has to be done.”

Should the ECB reduce its deposit rate, now at minus 0.3%, roughly three-quarters of economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect some form of SNB action. If policy makers in Frankfurt simply adjust their bond-buying programme, economists pri-marily expect Swiss currency interventions.

Jordan signaled last week that there’s room to further cut the deposit rate, currently at minus 0.75%.

According to the poll, the SNB can go as low as minus 1.25%. The central bank also has some fi re-power on interventions, with economists saying it can expand its balance sheet to 128% of gross do-mestic product, from roughly 100% now, before its credibility begins to suff er.

“The SNB must be happy about where the cur-rent Swiss franc exchange rate is against the euro,” said Alan McQuaid, chief economist at Merrion Capital in Dublin.

“A lot of ECB action in March is already priced in, so the euro is unlikely to weaken too much un-less we get another bazooka moment from Mario Draghi.”

A man looks on at the local market in downtown Rome. Italy’s public finance diff iculties are deepening as its economy weakens, and it may be punished by the markets even if Prime Minister Matteo Renzi reaches a compromise with the European Commission in a dispute over this year’s budget.

Eurozone long-term inflation expectations lift off new lowsReutersLondon

Eurozone long-term inflation expectations bounced off record lows yesterday after China’s central bank fixed the yuan rate stronger, easing some recent worries about a devaluation. Bond yields in the eurozone’s most indebted states fell and stress indicators in bank-to-bank lending eased as market concerns subsided that Chinese currency weakness would spread growth-crippling deflation across the developed world. Portuguese 10-year bond yields were a whole percentage point down from last week’s highs hit when investors became worried about China’s economic slowdown and the health of the world’s banks. Spot yuan jumped more than 1% to 6.4900 per dollar, its firmest this year, after the People’s Bank of China set its daily midpoint 0.3% stronger. The head of the bank was quoted as saying speculators should not be allowed to dominate market sentiment. The most widely followed measure of the market’s long-term inflation expectations for the euro zone - the five-year, five-year, breakeven forward, rose to 1.47% from a record low of 1.44% touched last week. The measure, which shows where markets expect 2026 inflation forecasts to be in 2021, remains well below the European Central Bank’s target of just below 2%. “We had a very strong

statement from the Chinese authorities signalling they are committed to a stable currency and that’s helped sentiment,” said RIA Capital Markets bond strategist Nick Stamenkovic. “But there’s still a lingering suspicion among investors that they might still devalue the yuan going forward.” German 10-year Bund yields rose 1 basis point to 0.27% as investors shifted to riskier assets such as stocks and higher-yielding debt. Stamenkovic said the underlying market mood remained fragile due to worries about banks, the uncertain outlook for China, and concerns about the US after its first interest rate rise in almost a decade last December. Ten-year Portuguese yields fell 22 basis points to 3.39%, a full percentage point below last week’s high. The sell-off in Portugal last week was a throwback to the 2011-2012 eurozone debt crisis, but some analysts said drawing such parallels is misguided given that the ECB is now buying bonds and could increase those purchases next month. “The ECB will not want to see the euro periphery trading once more as a credit market, having seemingly won the battle to restore confidence in 2012,” said Mark Dowding, co-head of investment grade debt at BlueBay Asset Management. In Italy, the treasury said the ECB was in talks with the government about buying bundles of bad loans as part of its asset-purchase programme and accepting them as collateral from banks in return for cash.

Jordan: For further cut in deposit rate.

Draghi: Signals tough measures to boost economy.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

BUSINESSGULF TIMES

Can commodity prices expect some relief? By Dr R Seetharaman

The gold price was at $1237.97/ounce and silver price at $15.75/ounce by the end of last week. Gold had surged by close to 17% YTD and silver had surged by close to 13.5% YTD. Big sell-off in world stock markets this year sent investors and traders scrambling into the gold market as a safe haven.There are growing concerns about the collective health of the major world economies. There was near certainty at the start of the year that the Fed would raise rates several times in 2016 which had diminished now and hence also giving boost to precious metals. Last week, the Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen has stated that the US economy faces a number of global

threats that could hamper growth, but is still sticking to a plan of slowly hiking interest rates back to a more normal level over time. The dollar index was at 95.94 by the end of last week. The weakening of the dollar index in recent times due to mixed economic data from the US and delay in rate hikes also gave boost to the precious metals. The latest report from the World Gold Council shows that, since late 2015, the keen buyers have been investors and central banks.WTI and Brent were at $29.44/barrel and $33.36/barrel by the end of last week and had dropped by more than 20% YTD and 10% YTD respectively on concerns of supply glut in global oil market. However, oil prices had surged as much as 12% last Friday after fresh

hopes that Opec nations were set to cut oil production. Natural gas price was at $1.966/MMBTU by the end of last week

and had fallen by more than 16% YTD. Natural gas price fell on expectations of cooler weather contributing to lesser demand in air conditioning.Copper was at $4,506.75/tonne by the end of last week and had fallen by more than 4% in 2016 on concerns of Chinese slowdown. However, last week, copper had some support on hopes that Chinese commodity funds had accumulated long copper positions on the Shanghai Futures Exchanges. Nickel was at $7,789.5/tonne by the end of last week and had fallen by more than 11% in 2016 due to the oversupply and a decline in nickel-based stainless steel demand. Aluminum was at $1,502.5/tonne and capacity curtailments are supporting the aluminium price in recent times.Corn was at $3.63/ bushel by the end

of last week. It had declined to a one-month low last week on ample world inventories and slow demand for US supplies of the grain. Wheat was at $4.62 /bushel by the end of last week and had fallen by more than 3% YTD during this year. Wheat prices were down on concerns over demand for the US crop. Soybean was at $8.72/bushel by the end of last week and soybean prices slipped last week as progressing soybean harvest in South America pressurised prices.Cocoa was at $2,874/tonne by the end of last week and had fallen by more than 10% YTD. Cocoa prices had fallen this year on hopes of higher expectations of production from Ghana. Coff ee was at $117.50 /pound by the end of last week and had fallen by

more than 9% YTD. Brazil forecast that coff ee farmers will have a huge harvest season this year, creating an oversupply of beans, which has led to the drop in prices. Sugar was at $13.12/pound by the end of last week and had fallen by more than 12% YTD. Favourable weather sentiments from Brazilian sugarcane production regions dragged sugar prices down.The tumbling commodity prices have resulted in correction in global capital markets and rush of funds to precious metals as safe havens. It needs to be seen whether this will continue further or whether they can obtain some relief, amidst expectations of actions.

Dr R Seetharaman is Group CEO ofDoha Bank.

BANKING ON KNOWLEDGE

BG acquisition a major boost for Shell’s oil, gas reserves By Ben van Beurden

Yesterday saw the birth of a new player in

the global energy industry. In the midst of

some of the toughest market conditions

seen in decades, the joining together

of Shell and BG creates a company of

extraordinary strengths – a combination

greater than the sum of our parts. I feel

privileged to be part of this historic, trans-

formative moment.

It has been an intense 10 months since

we first announced the combination

with BG and yesterday was a very special

milestone for us – off icially the first day of

operations for the combined company.

It has also been a period of great volatility.

Although the oil price has fallen since our

announcement, I remain convinced of the

strategic and financial merits of the deal.

Over time, I expect the fundamentals

of energy supply and demand to reassert

themselves and the strategic and eco-

nomic benefits of the deal to fully deliver

for shareholders.

The deal reinvigorates Shell and will be

a springboard for further transformation.

We now plan to shape a simpler, leaner,

more agile and competitive company

focusing on our priorities for growth in liq-

uefied natural gas (LNG) and deep water.

The acquisition significantly boosts our

oil and gas reserves and production ca-

pacity, and is expected to provide a strong

injection to our operating cash flow. It

underpins our role as one of the world’s

largest independent producers of LNG.

But this deal is not about size. It is about

quality. The combined value of our exist-

ing and potential energy projects creates

a company more able to brave the cycles

in our industry, and strengthens our ability

to pay the dividend at any oil price that

might reasonably be expected.

Shell has acquired major oil and gas

projects in Brazil and Australia, and inter-

ests in other key countries, although there

is no change to Shell’s business in Qatar.

The deep-water interests in Brazil we

now own were one of the major drivers of

this deal. Brazil is a country we know well,

through the exploration and production

aspects of our business, our retail outlets

and our low-carbon biofuel joint venture. It

is quite simply a country of the highest stra-

tegic importance to us, a land with plenty of

potential for growth. Our global deep-water

experience and technical expertise will help

us build on our existing relationship with

the national oil company Petrobras. The

Libra joint venture already plans to develop

a major oil field 170 kilometres off the coast

of Brazil. Our newly acquired deep-water

operations off Brazil will now add to current

production from our Parque das Conchas

oil and gas project.

We see potential for immediate benefits

from our and BG’s complementary LNG

operations in Australia and Trinidad and

Tobago, as well as in Asia, a crucial and

growing market.

Other clear benefits include BG’s strong

position in trading and shipping, which will

bolster Shell’s capabilities, volumes and

relationships in these core areas for the fu-

ture development of the global gas market.

We are determined to use this coming

together to achieve eff iciencies – at $33bn

our planned capital investment in 2016 is

considerably less than the combined an-

nual spending of both companies in recent

years. Over the next three years we plan

to sell assets, as well as make significant

savings in overlapping costs and reduced

spending on exploration. We have already

announced plans to reduce staff and con-

tractors, which in these harsh economic

times is a diff icult but necessary step.

This timely rejuvenation of Shell

sharpens our ability to adapt and thrive

in an energy landscape that will continue

to change. It’s clear that business as usual

isn’t good enough if the world is to tackle

climate change, while making vital energy

available to a growing population in need

of a decent standard of living.

A global energy transition is under way.

I want Shell to be part of this transition

by producing more natural gas to replace

coal in power generation; continuing to in-

vest in the development of energy sources

for the future, such as low-carbon biofuels

and hydrogen as a fuel for transport; and

by helping to develop carbon capture

and storage. We will continue to advocate

government-led carbon-pricing systems.

This is one of the largest acquisitions

in UK corporate history and the biggest

in the energy industry for many years.

However, we mustn’t forget that people

make companies and we will make sure

that our combined teams blend together

smoothly. There is much to learn from

one another. Those who have worked

hard to build BG’s impressive portfolio will

find they are among like-minded people.

Bright, inventive, resilient people who care

about the industry they work in, and about

the health of our planet.

To create a more structured and

transparent process for integration of the

companies, we have set up a transition

organisation. Each existing part of Shell’s

business will be swift to understand the

activities and support needed for our new

assets and businesses.

We must now set about delivering the

value we’ve promised. Ahead lie several

months of detailed collaboration between

colleagues from both Shell and BG to

achieve full integration towards the end

of this year.

In my 32 years with Shell I have some-

times heard people say, “This company is

like an ocean-going tanker. It takes an age

to turn.” With the completion of this deal,

we have truly changed course – and are

now going full speed ahead.

Ben van Beurden is chief executive off icer of

Royal Dutch Shell.

FOCUS

Airline industry to generate $700bn in GDP, 33mn jobs in Asia-Pacifi c this year: IATA Airline industry will generate

more than $700bn in GDP and 33mn jobs in the Asia-Pacifi c

region this year, International Air Transport Association (IATA) Director General and CEO Tony Tyler has said.

“Airlines will transport 3.8bn pas-sengers and 53mn tonnes of air cargo this year. In doing so, they will sup-port some $2.4tn in economic activity and some 58mn jobs,” Tyler said at the Singapore Airshow Aviation Leader-ship Summit hosted by the Singapore Government, Experia Events and IATA.

By 2034, global demand will reach 7bn passengers, but that demand can only be accommodated through a working together approach by all avia-tion stakeholders including govern-ments,” Tyler said.

He cited the collaborative event as an example of the working together ap-proach. “It’s great that we are looking at the challenges of future growth to-gether with all stakeholders.”

Tyler identifi ed three examples where partnerships are vital to meet-

ing forecast demand for connectivity - safety, sustainability and infrastruc-ture development.

“Safety is our highest priority and we are seeing steady progress through our partnership approach involving airlines, airports, air navigation serv-ices providers, manufacturers, govern-ments and other stakeholders.

If we look at jet aircraft, in 2015 we had one major accident for every 3.1mn fl ights. That’s a signifi cant improve-ment on the fi ve-year average (2010-2014) of one accident for every 2.2mn fl ights.

Yet the last two years have also seen events that can only be classifi ed as ‘unthinkable’, including the disappear-ance of an aircraft, the downing of an aircraft by a missile, and the deliberate destruction of an aircraft by a suicidal pilot.

We must add to that the loss of an aircraft in what is suspected of being an act of terrorism.”

He said, “There are no simple solu-tions to the issues raised by these ter-

rible tragedies. But we must honour those who lost their lives, and their friends and loved ones, by re-dedi-cating ourselves to making fl ying even safer. Working with our partners in government and industry will drive im-provements based on global standards and best practices.”

“Environmental sustainability is our licence to grow,” said Tyler. The aviation industry has adopted a four-pillar strategy based on technology, operations, infrastructure, and mar-ket-based measures to address its CO2 emissions, and has adopted ambitious carbon reduction targets: A 1.5% an-nual average improvement in fuel ef-fi ciency to 2020, capping net carbon emissions with carbon-neutral growth from 2020, cutting net carbon emis-sions in half by 2050 as compared to 2005 levels.

“We are seeing success through our partnership approach. Fuel effi ciency is improving around 2% a year.

Sustainable fuels for aviation have matured with the knowledge that they

are safe and eff ective. And earlier this month, a CO2 standard was agreed that will institutionalise the continu-ous technical improvements that come with every new generation of aircraft and engines.

“Now we need governments to step up at the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Assembly this au-tumn to agree a mandatory global car-bon off set scheme to be in place in time for 2020.

Our membership is doing all it can to provide support to this bold initiative,” Tyler said.

On infrastructure development, Tyler said, “We will add 3.2bn new air travellers in less than two decades. Of these, 1.8bn—56%-will be in Asia-Pacifi c—the vast majority on routes linked to China.

If we can realise that growth po-tential, then jobs and economic ac-tivity will follow. By 2034 aviation in the region could be supporting over 70mn jobs and some $1.3tn in eco-nomic activity.

But that’s dependent on the industry having suffi cient infrastructure,” Tyler said.Tyler said that many governments in the Asia-Pacifi c region value highly the economic contribution of connec-tivity enabled by aviation and work to sustain it.

However, Tyler cautioned that “it will be a challenge to keep up infra-structure development in line with growing demand—and to ensure that that skies can still operate effi ciently as the industry grows.

The Gulf hubs already face a similar challenge where much more coordina-tion in airspace management is need-ed. Europe probably faces the greatest risk.

Air traffi c management is an expen-sive and disjointed mess as a result of governments’ protection of narrow do-mestic interests at the expense of Con-tinental success.

Moreover, a Eurocontrol study es-timates that European airports could also face a capacity crunch—with a 12% shortfall against demand by 2035.”

Tyler: Partnerships are vital for safety, sustainability and infrastructure development.

Italian trade team onvisit in Qatar

A group of selected Italian companies in the electro-technical and electronic

sectors are in Qatar on a two-day business mission “Technology Days 2016”, which started yes-terday.

Italian Trade Agency with ANIE (Italian Federation of Electrotech-nical and Electronic Industry) is undertaking the mission, which is aimed at presenting their latest technical solutions and consoli-date business relationship with Qatari companies.

The purpose of this event is to present technological solutions in the sector but also to create synergies with the companies operating in Qatar, taking in consideration the needs of the Qatari market, said a spokesman of Italian Trade Agency.

The visiting delegation in-clude companies active in the contract and building sectors as Daldoss Elevetronic (specialised in vertical transport as elevators and platform lifts); ILC (pro-viding the national and foreign market with tailor-made solu-tions, from the component to the most sophisticated elevator); Ferrara Ascensori & Energia (de-signs and manufactures latest-generation elevators ); Dapa (automation for elevator); Ital-ian Top Gears (components for elevators and escalators); Ca-raglio (Caraglio plans, produces and installs electrical systems, electro industrial equipments, instrumental devices); and Zepa (cooking technology).

Egyptian pound falls to all-time low

The Egyptian pound weakened

to 9 against the dollar on the

black market for the first time

ever yesterday from 8.85 a day

earlier, as people rushed to buy

the US currency, two traders

told Reuters.

Egypt, which depends on

imports for its food and energy,

is facing a foreign currency

crisis and authorities are under

increasing pressure to devalue

the pound. Three exchange

bureaus in downtown Cairo told

Reuters yesterday they did not

have any dollars available.