CONTINUOUS GROWTH | Page 19 Qatar-Turkey trade stands at over $2bn in 2019, says offi cial

Tuesday, March 3, 2020 Rajab 8, 1441 AH

GULF TIMES AGRICULTURE FOCUS: Page 20 Qatar, Georgia explore ways to enhance economic and BUSINESS investment co-operation

QIC to expand its ‘best-in-class’ IT platform to help EM insurers QIC is in the process of establishing an IT tional Vision 2030, which emphasises the de- services subsidiary in the QFC velopment of a digital economy as a means of empowering the private sector and reducing By Pratap John the nation’s dependence on hydrocarbon in- Business Editor dustries. Al-Subaey said, “Our collaboration with Swiss Re – an iconic player in the global insur- ena’s leading insurer Qatar Insurance ance and reinsurance industry – is testament Company plans to off er “internally to our exceptional capabilities in developing Mdeveloped, best-in-class” insurance cutting-edge insurance IT off erings. administration platform to emerging market “Anoud+ has the potential to revolutionise (EM) insurance carriers. insurance administration across emerging mar- QIC, which is Qatar’s top insurance com- kets by off ering a world-class IT platform to our pany, will collaborate with Swiss Re, a lead- partners. At the same time, this work demon- ing global reinsurance company, to integrate strates QIC’s important role in making Qatar a specialised off erings into the platform to help leader in the development and application of insurers oversee and manage their underwrit- advance digital technologies.” ing strategy and monitor exposure to natural “Digital transformation is the future of the catastrophes. insurance industry. However, reaping the bene- Agreement documents to the eff ect were ex- fi ts of the tech revolution takes investment and changed by QIC Group president Khalifa Ab- time. The expansion of Anoud+ off ering insur- dulla Turki al-Subaey and Swiss Re regional ers across Africa, and other emerging markets manager (P&C Middle East) and vice-president the chance to access a world-best tech platform (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Fabrice Jerlin for insurance administration and accelerate in Doha on Sunday. their own digital transformation,” al-Subaey QIC is in the process of establishing an IT added. services subsidiary in the Qatar Financial Cen- Lukas Mueller, Swiss Re’s head (Middle East) tre, called Anoud Technologies LLC (Anoud noted, “With QIC’s Anoud+, we are able to help Tech). QIC bring a best-in-class insurance platform to Anoud Tech will provide marketing, imple- QIC will collaborate with Swiss Re to integrate specialised off erings into the platform to help insurers oversee and manage their underwriting strategy the African market. This platform can support mentation and maintenance services in respect and monitor exposure to natural catastrophes. Agreement documents to the eff ect were exchanged by al-Subaey and Jerlin in Doha on Sunday. insurers to strengthen their operational resil- of the Group’s internally developed insurance ience and gain access to digital technology. We IT system to third party clientele. Internet-based technology”, and the platform One of the target markets includes Africa, relationship management, underwriting, are excited to work with QIC on this important The integrated system, called ‘Anoud+’, pro- also off ers access to cutting edge reinsurance QIC and Swiss Re executives told Gulf Times on technical accounting, finance, policy and step forward for insurers.” vides insurers an effi cient, comprehensive way tools and risk modelling capabilities. the sidelines of the event. claims management, workflow and document QIC Group CEO Salem Khalaf al-Mannai and to manage all aspects of their insurance pro- For many emerging market insurers, the costs Now, with QIC’s integrated insurance plat- management, business intelligence/report- Swiss Re Global Due Diligence co-ordinator and grammes. and know-how needed to keep pace with digiti- form, insurers will have immediate access to ing, data analytics and reinsurance adminis- vice-president (Property & Casualty Business QIC said it requires “little or no additional sation can be a drag on the operational effi cien- a proven, market-leading end-to-end insur- tration. Management) Shinji Shirai were also present at IT investment” thanks to the use of “advanced, cies and cost requirements of their business. ance platform, including modules for client QIC’s IT growth is in line with the Qatar Na- the agreement signing.

Chamber chairman offers support for Qatar-UK trade jumps Qatar’s entrepreneurship ecosystem

21% to £6.7bn in 2019 By Peter Alagos Business Reporter

By Peter Alagos environment. And it’s for those reasons Business Reporter that the UK is the main destination for Qatar Chamber chairman Sheikh Qatari investments,” he said. Khalifa bin Jassim al-Thani has “Events like this are so important in bring- expressed the chamber’s keen Bilateral trade between Qatar and the UK ing together SMEs with investment op- support to the country’s fast-growing stood at £6.7bn, registering a 21% growth portunities here in Qatar. By investing in entrepreneurship ecosystem, as in 2019, Her Majesty’s Trade Commis- Qatar, British companies can have easier well as the small and medium-sized sioner for the Middle East, Simon Penny, access to a range of opportunities by enterprise (SME) sector. said during the “3rd SMEs Conference” taking advantage of the new free zones Sheikh Khalifa made the statement held in Doha yesterday. and Qatar Airways’ global reach,” Penny yesterday on the sidelines of the ‘3rd In his welcome speech, Penny said the pointed out. SMEs Conference’ organised by Qatar UK supports more businesses in Qatar The UK has, at the highest levels, commit- Chamber, in collaboration with the “than in any other country in the world” ted to supporting these ambitious plans British embassy in Qatar and Qatar through the UK Export Finance. Accord- for the future across key areas where Development Bank (QDB). ing to Penny, there are more than 700 Penny delivering a speech during the UK could work closely with Qatar, On the sidelines of the two-day British companies registered in Qatar, the “3rd SMEs Conference” held in Penny said, citing his meetings with the conference, Sheikh Khalifa conducted as well as many more that are seeking Doha yesterday. PICTURE: Noushad Supreme Committee for Delivery and a tour of the exhibition hall that Sheikh Khalifa in a discussion with one of the participating entrepreneurs of investment or collaborative opportunities Thekkayil Legacy (SC) and the Qatar Central Bank, showcased the products and services the “3rd SMEs Conference” held in Doha. across multiple sectors. as well as other organisations. of the participating SMEs and “We currently have more than £3.5bn businesses, almost all of which are clas- “The UK has now left the European Union entrepreneurs. which he described as “the backbone Sheikh Khalifa noted that the ‘3rd worth of financial support to Qatar; sified as SMEs, Penny pointed out. Citing (EU) giving us the freedom to negotiate, Exhibitors of the “Masar Project” of modern economy.” SMEs Conference’, which concludes there’s still an additional £1.5bn capacity figures from the Federation of Small sign, and ratify new trade deals for the delivered a presentation in the Sheikh Khalifa also aff irmed that the today, focuses on British expertise, that we have available, and this is avail- Businesses, Penny said these British first time in 40 years. Qatar and the wider presence of Sheikh Khalifa. Masar chamber is interested to stimulate “considering that Qatar and UK enjoy able to Qatari companies that want to companies have a combined turnover GCC are keen partners to the UK. is an online platform that aims to investments in SMEs that support the strong relations in all economic and buy goods and services from the UK, and worth £1.9tn, and support 16.1mn jobs. He “In fact, bilateral trade between the UK connect companies and institutions in state’s policies aimed at achieving commercial aspects.” it is also available to UK companies that stressed that 60% of all private employ- and the Gulf grew by 90% in the last 10 Qatar through a single platform that “economic diversification away from He also praised the large turnout and are involved in the supply chain and that ment in the UK is in SMEs. years. And outside the EU, the Gulf is off ers “all available opportunities.” the dependence on oil.” participation from the British side, are looking to de-risk some of the finan- Qatar is well on its way in implementing the UK’s seventh largest export market, The Qatar Chamber off icials also “The government and the private which demonstrated the interest cial risks that come with doing business its National Vision 2030, and preparing second only the US,” Penny stressed. visited the booth of “Perfume sector had exerted tireless eff orts of companies in the UK to explore overseas,” he said. to host the World Cup in 2022; this off ers He said the Qatar National Vision 2030 Factory”, which was described as to enhance SMEs and increase the Qatari market and discover new As trade commissioner, Penny stressed enormous opportunities for partnerships and the UK’s industrial strategy share “an ambitious initiative” that aims to its contribution in GDP,” stressed investment opportunities. his role to establish closer partnerships between the UK and Qatar governments, themes from healthcare to clean growth, establish a project for manufacturing Sheikh Khalifa, who added that the Sheikh Khalifa expressed hope that on a government-to-government level its businesses, and its citizens, Penny to technology and transport. “It’s in these high quality perfumes. Qatar Chamber provides support to the event concludes with a wide and work together to tackle common said. areas that partnership between both In a press statement, Sheikh Khalifa entrepreneurs to help them start their range of agreements between Qatari challenges and seek solutions that would “The UK has made strides that attract countries would have a lasting and mean- stressed that the chamber will businesses, referring to the “Maan” and British companies that would benefit both nations. investors, with an open liberal economy, ingful impact on future generations,” he extend its continuous support to the initiative launched by Qatar University establish mutual projects in both The UK is home to some 5.8mn small world-class talent, and business-friendly added. country’s entrepreneurs and SMEs, and QDB. countries’ SME sector. Pages 19, 20 Gulf Times 2 Tuesday, March 3, 2020 BUSINESS

Turkey seen Qatar shares extend losses on widening services across-the-board sell pressure data set to measure By Santhosh V Perumal Business Reporter balance of n across-the-board selling, particularly in the industrials, yesterday dragged the payments AQatar Stock Exchange more than 274 points for the sixth straight session and its key barometer stood a little above 9,200 points. Bloomberg Dividend worries and apprehensions over Istanbul coronavirus had its toll on the 20-stock Qatar Index, which fell 2.89%, its largest single-day loss in the recent past, to 9,215.81 points, al- Turkey’s statistics agency is working on though it touched a low of 9,168 points, about a revision to its method for compiling 45 minutes before the closing. the balance of payments by including a Foreign institutions hurriedly squared off new data series on international trade in their position in the market, which is down services, according to five people familiar 11.6% year-to-date. with the matter. Turkish off icials held a Market capitalisation saw more than meeting with several economists last QR16bn, or 3.08%, erosion to QR509.39bn week to share the details of the new series, mainly owing to large and midcap segments. the people said, asking not to be named Islamic stocks were seen declining faster than because the talks weren’t public. the other indices in the bourse, where non-Qa- The data set, which will cover the years tari individuals turned net profi t takers. 2016 through 2018, will provide a wider Trade turnover and volumes were on the scope of service types and information on increase in the bourse, where the realty and services trade with individual countries, banking sectors together accounted for more according to one of the people. It will than 58% of the total trading volume. be published once a year starting from The Total Return Index shed 2.4% to Thursday, said the person. 17,245.61 points, the All Share Index by 2.53% to The change, made in line with Eurostat 2,789.31 points and the Al Rayan Islamic Index methodology, could boost Turkey’s (Price) by 3.07% to 1,982.94 points. income from services including the freight The industrials index plummeted 3.46%, in- industry, four of the people said. surance (2.78%), banks and fi nancial services The central bank has been using banking (2.69%), consumer goods (1.96%), real estate accounts to measure services when (1.9%), transport (0.28%) and telecom (0.14%). Dividend worries and fears over coronavirus had its toll on the 20-stock Qatar Index, which fell 2.89% yesterday. PICTURE: Noushad Thekkayil publishing its monthly balance-of- As much as 80% of the traded constituents payments data, which consists of the were in the red with major losers being Indus- However, domestic institutions’ net buying The banks and fi nancial services sector saw a The industrials sector reported a 49% in- current-account balance plus capital flows. tries Qatar, Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding, grew substantially to QR116.46mn compared 98% surge in trade volume to 47.82mn equities, crease in trade volume to 31.04mn stocks, 13% Instead, the monetary authority will now Gulf International Services, Qatar Insurance, to QR36.11mn last Thursday. 51% in value to QR257.35mn and 14% in deals to in value to QR74.61mn and 43% in deals to use the new data series published by the QNB, QIIB, Qatar First Bank, Al Khaliji, Qatar Local retail investors’ net buying shot up 3,885. 2,199. statistics agency, or Turkstat, which may Oman Investment, Salam International In- perceptibly to QR37.92mn against QR28.7mn The telecom sector’s trade volume soared The consumer goods sector’s trade volume narrow Turkey’s current-account gap, vestment, Woqod, Mazaya Qatar, United De- on February 27. 86% to 13.47mn stocks, value by 49% to jumped 33% to 12.11mn shares, while value according to two of the people. velopment Company, Ezdan, Vodafone Qatar; The Gulf funds’ net selling eased signifi - QR48.07mn and transactions by 63% to 1,739. tanked 25% to QR30.4mn despite 34% higher Turkstat and the central bank declined to even as Mannai Corporation, Ooredoo and Mi- cantly to QR1.35mn compared to QR13.5mn the There was an 85% expansion in the real es- transactions at 912. comment. laha were among the gainers. previous trading day. tate sector’s trade volume to 48.01mn shares However, the market witnessed a 5% shrink- The deficit in the current account – the Non-Qatari funds’ net profi t booking in- The Gulf individuals’ profi t booking shrank and 25% in value to QR45.2mn but on a 26% fall age in the insurance sector’s trade volume to broadest measure of international trade creased considerably to QR145.74mn compared noticeably to QR0.32mn against QR6.31mn last in deals to 1,353. 4.82mn equities and less than 1% in value to that measures trade in goods, services to QR51.3mn on February 27. Thursday. The transport sector’s trade volume shot QR11.97mn but on a 35% growth in deals to and investments – has long been one of Non-Qatari individuals turned net sellers Total trade volumes rose 71% to 163.74mn up 83% to 6.46mn equities and value by 49% 400. Turkey’s weak areas and a reflection of its to the tune of QR6.46mn against net buyers of shares, value by 31% to QR482.42mn and QR14.82mn, whereas transactions shrank 43% In the debt market, there was no trading of dependence on external financing. QR6.31mn the previous trading day. transactions by 16% to 10,730. to 242. sovereign bonds and treasury bills.

Gulf Times 4 Tuesday, March 3, 2020 BUSINESS Opec-watchers expect substantial production cutback this week

Bloomberg London/New York/Singapore

pec and its allies are expected to agree deeper production cut- Obacks this week as the corona- virus batters oil demand, a Bloomberg survey showed. All but two of 29 analysts, traders and brokers in a global poll predicted that the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies will announce new curbs, with an aver- age expectation of 750,000 barrels a day. That’s slightly above the 600,000 barrel-a-day cut recommended by the organisation’s technical committee in February. The 23-nation alliance by will meet in Vienna on Thursday and Friday, with oil prices near their lowest in more than two years as the virus cripples Chinese manufacturing and threatens a global recession. The Saudis have been pushing Opec+ to act for several weeks, and The Opec logo is seen on a flag at the oil producer group’s headquarters in Russian President Vladimir Putin Vienna, Austria (file). Opec and its allies are expected to agree deeper production has signalled he’s willing to support cutbacks this week as the coronavirus batters oil demand, a Bloomberg survey them. showed. Predictions in the survey for sup- ply cutbacks ranged from as little as rels a day the organisation agreed in but one of 35 analysts forecast it would 300,000 barrels a day, to as much as December. Opec+ has been known to keep production levels unchanged. In- 1.5mn a day. That would come in ad- spring surprises on the market. When stead, the organisation announced a dition to the supply curb of 2.1mn bar- the group last met in December, all new supply cut.

‘Novak hasn’t got proposal for million-barrel cut’ Russia said it’s received no Opec+ proposal for a 1mn- The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries is due barrel-a-day cut in oil output, and is instead focusing on an to meet its allies on March 4-6 as the spreading coronavirus earlier recommendation from the group’s technical experts, continues to hammer crude. The group will consider advice according to Bloomberg. from its technical committee to curtail production by a Russia’s stance at this week’s Opec+ meeting in Vienna further 600,000 barrels a day. will be critical as it’s one of the most powerful members “We are focusing on what the technical committee of the alliance. Although President Vladimir Putin insisted considered,” Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak on Sunday that the country plans to cooperate with its told reporters in Moscow yesterday. The Opec+ Joint partners to support the global oil market, he also said Ministerial Monitoring Committee, which oversees the current prices are “acceptable,” underlining Russia’s greater production cuts, will study that recommendation this ability than others to withstand a slump. week, he said.

Gulf Times 8 Tuesday, March 3, 2020 BUSINESS

Insurtech has potential to grow takaful industry beyond its current limits

By Arno Maierbrugger specified risks. So far, it is comparable insurance companies and allows takaful market globally with assets three months. There are also other, said Parvaiz Siddiq, CEO of GCC-based Gulf Times Correspondent to the conventional mutual insurance them to settle outstanding claims and amounting to $9bn, is also working more sophisticated developments. Salama Islamic Arab Insurance, at Bangkok concept. But takaful is further organised payments among each other digitally. on regulating the takaful aggregation One is, for instance, the attempt to last year’s World Takaful & InsurTech as an Islamic or Shariah-compliant The technology aims at allowing business. The country’s central bank combine takaful and peer-to-peer Conference, an annual event which alternative to conventional insurance insurers to manage and reduce costs has released an exposure draft on (P2P) insurance in a digital way. P2P seeks to identify and better understand Islamic insurance, or takaful, has to avoid forbidden riba (usury) and as claim response times are slashed this in June 2019, and companies to insurance is a risk-sharing network mega trends in takaful, co-operative experienced a stagnating market share gharar (excessive uncertainty), as from days to minutes, and the overhead be regulated include RinggitPlus, initiated by fintech companies where insurance and reinsurance. in terms of assets over the past years, well as other forbidden aspects under costs required to handle claims by 30%. a comparison portal for financial a group of individuals pool their In terms of market size, assets of but forecasts are positive that this Islamic finance, such as gambling and products and insurances, as well as a premiums together to insure against the global takaful market stagnated will change in the foreseeable future weapons, among others. That said, similar platform called GoBear. Apart a risk. As such, it works very much as between $46bn and $48bn since 2015 due to disruption in the entire Islamic developer of takaful fintech need to from aggregation platforms, takaful a mutual insurance and may also be but are expected to grow to $65bn by banking industry by new technologies, take into account the faith-based issues Gulf Times operators in Malaysia also benefit from referred to as “social insurance.” 2024, according to the Islamic Finance processes and services. In particular, of such insurance solutions and build online payment systems such as Souqa And there is certainly more to come for Development Report 2019 issued fintech is expected to give takaful long- solutions in compliance with it. Exclusive FinTech’s PayHalal system, which gives takaful companies in terms of fintech in by Refinitiv. There were 335 takaful needed impulses. Following these guidelines, takaful consumers easier Shariah-compliant order to better connect with customers, operators in 2018 as per latest available However, fintech solutions for takaful firms are beginning to develop their payment options. The latter is used by develop competitive and diverse figures, whereby Indonesia leads the diff er from such for conventional own insurance technology, or insurtech, Another development is the emergence Zurich Malaysia Takaful, among others. takaful products, off er customised ranks with 54 operators. Of the entire insurers owing to the higher complexity platforms to the benefit of both Islamic of comparison platforms for takaful In another move, Takaful Malaysia, pricing and reach out to uninsured figure, 213 were fully-fledged takaful of Islamic insurance per se. Per insurers and their clients. In the Gulf contracts in the GCC under so-called the second-largest Islamic insurance potential customers in developing companies, the rest takaful windows. definition, takaful – which means Co-operation Council (GCC), a number “insurance aggregator” regulations. provider in the country, entered a countries through innovative mobile The report also showed that most of the “co-operative” – is a mutual guarantee of takaful operators in August 2019 Such platforms allow insurance brokers collaboration with software company solutions. takaful market is concentrated in the in return for the commitment to jointly started to develop an integrated to provide online platforms for price Fusionex to transform its core software “Owing to the massive disruption in GCC and other Middle East countries, contribute to a risk pool, whereby a blockchain platform in co-operation comparisons of Islamic insurance and to promote social media marketing. the market, it becomes all the more as well as in Southeast Asia. The fastest group of participants agree among with insurtech startups. This platform policies and to facilitate the purchase The response was very welcome critical to discuss the importance of growing countries in terms of takaful themselves to support one another is designed to streamline transactions of policies on behalf of the operators with about 40mn insurance policies developing takaful solutions that meet assets were the Maldives, Pakistan and jointly for the losses arising from between takaful and conventional on the web. Malaysia, the third-largest sold on a new digital platform within the ever-changing market demands,” Brunei, the report found.

Gold prices gain on rate ‘Fear factor’ running high with cuts outlook

Bloomberg global rate-cut bets mounting Singapore fter getting caught up in Bloomberg ery process from a weaker level than last week’s punishing vi- New York thought. The shift from a more Asia- Arus-driven sell-off , gold centric to global perspective means a is seeking to refresh its haven more protracted economic downturn is credentials. raders bracing for another rough also negative”. The metal advanced after a week sought refuge in haven as- “The PBoC response should help, weekend of negative develop- Tsets, sending global bond yields given the dreadful PMI. I expect much ments, including a surge in virus down to new record lows. more policy front-running, with RRR cases around the world. With As markets reopened, rate-cut ex- cut and guidance for a 15-basis-point rising expectations that cen- pectations spurred by the Federal Re- cut in the OMO rate.” tral banks will now act, assets serve’s announcement on Friday that it “The week will start horrible, but including copper and oil also was ready to act rippled through yield may improve on central-bank pivots, gained. Friday’s big slump in curves. The dollar and commodity cur- with a coordinated G-20 fi scal pump gold was put down to investors’ rencies weakened in early trading. not out of the question”. forced selling to cover losses The drumbeat of bad news sur- Patricia Ribeiro, a New York- elsewhere. rounding the virus outbreak continued based senior portfolio manager at “Gold’s fundamentals remain over the weekend. Italy reported a 50% American Century Investments: overwhelmingly strong and any surge in new coronavirus cases and the “It’s a short-term impact or chal- near-term price corrections US and Japan issued “do-not-travel” lenge for the portfolio. The second half aren’t signifi cant in terms of warnings for aff ected regions of Italy of 2020 should get better” as countries the bigger picture,” said Gavin and South Korea. The US, Australia and respond quickly to contain the out- Wendt, senior resource analyst Thailand reported their fi rst fatalities. break. “The earnings-per-share num- at MineLife. Bullion’s retreat “The market is dominated by pessi- bers are still pretty high. You’re going to last week “was nowhere as bad mism on the back of the coronavirus,” see a very signifi cant slowdown in the as the 10%-plus drubbing equity said Hidehiro Joke, a bond strategist at fi rst half of the year and then that will markets took, so it can be argued Mizuho Securities Co in Tokyo. “The bounce in the second half”. gold has passed its safe-haven market is urging the Fed to cut rates. “Rates are already low and that’s challenge,” he said. Ten-year Treasury yields falling below positive for emerging markets. It’s ben- Bullion has a long-standing 1% cannot be ruled out.” efi cial for consumption in all of these reputation as a go-to asset in Treasury two-year yields fell 17 ba- countries. For me, it’s less about rates times of stress. That said, there’s sis points, while Australia and New coming down more in the US; it’s more a chance that investors sell gold Zealand’s bonds also saw record low A television screen displays a news report about the coronavirus outbreak as a trader monitors financial data on computer about not going up any time soon. If during extreme turmoil, some- yields amid mounting concerns about screens on the trading floor at ETX Capital, a broker of contracts-for-diff erence, in London. Traders bracing for another rough rates were to stay or be around where thing seen late last week and, the health of the Chinese economy. week sought refuge in haven assets, sending global bond yields down to new record lows. they are now, it’s defi nitely a positive”. before that, for a period in the The Chinese government reported on Richard Segal, a senior analyst at 2008 fi nancial crisis. Saturday that February manufacturing the median estimate of economists. Here’s a round-up of comments from growth shock and it’s time to be pre- Manulife Investment Management Investors were “cashing out activity plunged to its lowest level on The non-manufacturing gauge also fell analysts and strategists: pared and dust off the crisis playbook”. in London: to cover losses and meet mar- record. to 29.6, its lowest ever. Both were well Hasnain Malik, head of equity “If risk assets come under continued “Markets will open down a lot, but gin calls in other markets,” RBC Global equities suff ered their sharp- below 50, which denotes contraction. strategy at Tellimer: pressure, CNY might outperform oth- more likely because of the virus spread- Capital Markets said in a note, est declines since the 2008 fi nancial Investors are looking to not just the “Manufacturing, commodities, trade ers, but ultimately there is no safe-ha- ing in the US The Chinese PMI was bad referring to Friday’s drop. “We crisis last week, while commodities Fed and other major central banks – and tourism are all aff ected”. ven EM currency in a negative growth but I don’t think worse than expected. do not view this as a loss in faith plunged on concern the spread of the even with their limited ammunition “Counter-intuitively, this implies shock”. Super Tuesday in the US is also a pre- in gold’s role as a ‘perceived safe coronavirus will tip the global economy – to contain the fallout from the out- one should ignore it if we are talk- Mansoor Mohi-uddin, a Sin- occupation”. “Until last week, investors haven’ or a fundamental shift in into a recession. break. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell in ing about a portfolio exposed only to gapore-based senior strategist at were apprehensive about the virus and the attitude toward gold.” The New Zealand dollar dropped a statement on Friday said the US cen- emerging markets, as opposed to mul- NatWest Markets: mainly worried about the impact on the Spot gold climbed as much as more than 1% to its lowest level since tral bank is ready to cut interest rates if ti-asset global portfolios. The coun- “Risk assets will weaken because Chinese economy given its status as the 1.6% before paring some gains August 2015 and the Australian dollar needed as the epidemic “poses evolving tries and stocks one liked before have China’s PMI data was worse than the locomotive of global growth. to trade at $1,600.05 an ounce in traded as much as 0.8% lower before risks” to the American economy. simply become cheaper”. consensus expected. If the US ISM sur- However, the mood darkened a lot New York. both pared the declines. Australia’s central bank is all-but Jason Daw, head of emerging vey later in the day also falls back be- on Monday when it began to spread Prices fell 3.6% on Friday, “Given the fear factor that’s in the certain to cut interest rates Tuesday, markets strategy at Societe Gen- low 50, signalling the coronavirus was more widely in Italy and Korea. This the most since 2013. Silver also market right now, the risk relative to money markets show. ANZ Bank New erale SA in Singapore: already aff ecting US corporate senti- led many to sell at any price and ask advanced, while platinum was our base case scenario of just a few Zealand Ltd now sees the Reserve Bank “Markets might be partially soothed ment in February, then fi nancial mar- questions later”. little changed and palladium de- months ago, is that safe haven curren- of New Zealand slashing its benchmark by Powell’s statement that the Fed will ket expectations for Fed easing before Divye Arora, a portfolio manager clined. cies including yen, the swiss franc and rate to 0.25% by May. act, but unlike other growth or liquid- March’s FOMC meeting will increase at Daman Investments: Investors are assessing gold’s the dollar continue to outperform,” said “I can see rates continuing to fall ity induced market sell-off s, monetary further”. “Given the increasing spread of vi- outlook amid signals that the Steven Englander, Standard Chartered in the near term as there is no sign of policy could be ill-equipped to deal “Central banks will wait to see what rus in the West, we expect global eq- Federal Reserve will join other Bank’s head of North America macro a cure or vaccine,” said Priya Misra, with Covid-19”. the Fed does fi rst before using their own uity markets to remain under pressure. central banks in easing poli- strategy. head of global rates strategy at TD “Whether the market rout last week limited ammunition”. However, the pace of decline would be cy. Chairman Jerome Powell China’s manufacturing purchasing Securities. “Even though the mortal- develops into a full-blown crisis is an Stephen Innes, the Bangkok- much lower versus last week as mar- opened the door to a cut at the managers’ index plunged to 35.7 in Feb- ity is lower than Sars, the magnitude open question (Covid-19 news fl ow based chief market strategist at kets seem to have priced in a signifi cant March 17-18 meeting by releas- ruary from 50 the previous month, ac- and geographical spread of affected will be critical). But the tail risk event Axicorp: amount of uncertainty in the form of ing a rare note on Friday pledg- cording to data released by the National people is massive. Add to that travel everyone was worried about is pos- “The fallout from the China PMI lower consumer demand, travel and ing to “act as appropriate” to Bureau of Statistics, much lower than restrictions and fear.” sibly here in the form of large negative means we are starting the recov- supply chain disruptions”. support the economy. Coronavirus is dashing Putin’s big plan to revive Russia growth

Bloomberg is whether the fiscal stimulus will be in exports this year would contribute diamond giant Alrosa PJSC said the Moscow enough to off set the negative eff ect of about 0.6 percentage point to a likely virus hurt sales last month. coronavirus.” growth rate of 1.5%-2%. “The slide in oil prices could bring Five years of austerity and reserve- The central bank has little room to forward the coronavirus impact for Russian President Vladimir Putin was building mean that Russia still easily boost the economy with more cuts in Russia’s economy, denting confidence counting on his new government to has enough money to cover the interest rates for fear of weakening the and complicating eff orts to boost lead an economic revival this year to planned spending even if oil prices rouble and stoking inflation. growth. boost his flagging popularity ratings. keep falling, but the risk is that any Dolgin said he was planning to update The eff ects of supply-chain disruptions The global spread of coronavirus impact on growth will be more than his forecast of 1.5% growth in Russia and diminished demand will be slower may be about to upend his carefully off set by the global trade slowdown. this year to take into account the extra to arrive, depending on the size of the constructed plan. The world economy is poised this year spending, but now he’s waiting to see shock”, says Scott Johnson, Bloomberg Oil prices plummeted the most in for its weakest performance since the the scale of the coronavirus fallout. Economics. more than a decade last week and 2008 financial crisis. The Organisation of Economic The budget balances at $52 a barrel, the rouble dropped. Russia’s biggest Even as Siluanov said yesterday Russia Cooperation and Development cut its one of the lowest levels among major trading partners, China and the has enough funds to cover spending forecast this year to 1.2% from 1.6% oil producers. Still, to boost spending European Union, are facing slowdowns plans at much lower oil prices, the yesterday, citing the virus. Economists further to off set the impact of the or even recession. Finance Minister Economy Ministry said it would cut at Alfa-Bank in Moscow trimmed their virus, Russia would have to dip into its Anton Siluanov said that the country is back its growth forecast for the year. expectations in the first quarter to 1.4% $500bn in reserves. bleeding about 1bn roubles ($15.3mn) a Putin is under pressure to boost living annually from 1.8%. “It could be that by increasing day in losses from its trade with China. standards as the Kremlin looks for ways To be sure, the impact so far has been spending all they end up doing is “After the reshuff le, the key question to extend his rule beyond the end of muted. Data published yesterday softening the eff ects of this blow,” was how much the extra fiscal his term in 2024. He appointed a new showed that Russia’s oil exports to Asia said Heli Simola, a senior economist measures would propel growth,” said cabinet in January and laid out a plan to finally boost growth solidly above 2%. downturn triggered by the global were almost unscathed in February at the Bank of Finland Institute for Dmitry Dolgin, chief economist at ING boost spending by about 1.3% of gross Instead, the stimulus may end up slowdown. Before the outbreak, Bank of and the country’s main manufacturing Economies in Transition. “The eff ect on Bank in Moscow. “Now the question domestic product this year, hoping to simply taking the edge off a bigger Russia forecasts implied that a pick-up indicator held steady. But Russian growth could be quite limited.” Gulf Times Tuesday, March 3, 2020 9 BUSINESS

Asia bourses rise as virus fears off set by bank support hope

AFP tainty in the short term and remain at Frankfurt piled on 1.8%. But Sydney driven by how far the fear of the coro- the Australian central bank will soon agreed in 2019. Yesterday’s bounce in Hong Kong high risk of more downside given the fell 0.8% after Australia recorded its navirus spreads, probably not how the lower borrowing costs, while the major markets also saw a rally in oil unknowns around Covid-19,” Shane fi rst death from the virus, while Wel- data plays out.” Bank of Japan and Bank of England prices, which suff ered a pummelling Oliver, a global investment strategist at lington gave up 1.4%. He added that “since global growth said they stood ready to provide nec- last week. ost Asian and European mar- AMP Capital Investors, said. There were also losses in Taipei and has rested on consumer spending over essary support. Both main contracts rose more kets rose yesterday as bar- Traders remain worried the disease Bangkok. the last year, if consumers are afraid France said G7 and eurozone fi nance than 2%, with traders also cheering Mgain-buyers moved in follow- “will disrupt economic activity more Jakarta reversed early losses to sit (whether rational or not), the markets ministers will hold conference calls comments from Russian President ing last week’s global rout and central deeply and for longer than had been more than 1% lower after Indonesia re- will collapse”. Wednesday to “coordinate their re- Vladimir Putin, who said he would be banks including the Federal Reserve expected a week or so ago”. ported its fi rst Covid-19 case. Investors are betting on a Fed rate sponses” to the crisis. willing to co-operate with Opec in cut- fl agged support measures such as in- Shanghai led gainers, rising 3.2% af- “After the worst week since the cut at its March 17-18 policy meeting Bets on US rate cuts weighed on the ting output to support the beleaguered terest rate cuts. ter dropping more than 5% last week, great fi nancial crisis, stock markets after governor Jerome Powell made dollar, which retreated against higher- market. But after equities suff ered their while Hong Kong was up 0.6% after a have rebounded on Monday on hopes a rare unscheduled statement on the yielding, riskier units including the However, the commodity remains worst week since the fi nancial crisis loss of around 4%. of some kind of permanent never- outbreak, which he said “poses evolv- South Korean won, Australian dollar under pressure, with Brent and WTI more than a decade ago, investors con- The gains came on hopes for gov- ending stimulus,” said Neil Wilson at ing risks to economic activity”. and South African rand. However, it having lost around a quarter of their tinue to fret over the economic fall- ernment stimulus after an index of Markets.com. He said the central bank was “close- bounced against the safe-haven yen value since the start of the year with out from the new coronavirus as the Chinese manufacturing activity fell to But AxiCorp analyst Stephen Innes ly monitoring developments and their after the BoJ statement. investors spooked by falling demand in worldwide death toll rises. its lowest level on record in February warned that fear was playing a major implications for the economic out- The pound was in focus as European key consumer China. And analysts warned of further tur- as factories around the country were role in driving markets. look”, adding: “We will use our tools and British offi cials prepared to kick In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 closed moil on trading fl oors as governments shuttered. “With the headline bombardment and act as appropriate to support the off trade talks after Britain’s exit from up 1.0% to 21,344.08 points; Hong struggle to contain the disease, which Tokyo was up 1%, while Seoul added through social media outlets, any economy.” the EU earlier this year. But observ- Kong — Hang Seng ended up 0.6% has now killed more than 3,000 people 0.8%, and Singapore put on 0.3%. Ma- sense of rational thinking appears to Markets are betting on as many ers are worried as each side has ac- to 26,291.68 points and Shanghai — and infected almost 90,000. nila also rose. London rallied 2.8% at have gone missing,” he said in a note. as two interest rate cuts this year, cused the other of shifting away from Composite closed up 3.2% to 2,970.93 “Markets face signifi cant uncer- the open, while Paris gained 2.1% and “Near-term, the markets will be while there is growing speculation goals set out in a political declaration points yesterday. Underdogs look to shine as emerging Sensex counters Asian markets embrace dollar bears

Bloomberg markets rattled by the equity rebound; rupee London spreading coronavirus. The commitments came after Federal Reserve chairman The phrase of the day is Jerome Powell on Friday caveat emptor. The splash opened the door to cutting US of green across emerging- interest rates to contain what market assets yesterday has he called the “evolving risks” crashes to 1-year low come with caution that it to economic growth. may be premature to pencil Consider this scenario: Fears Bloomberg, Reuters dia. Domestic equity markets also extend- in a sustainable rebound on over a slowdown in the US Mumbai ed losses to the seventh day today. the strength of expected economy pushes investors to The rupee, which started the day on a monetary stimulus alone. consider options. Monetary positive note, witnessed heavy volatility Supportive measures may stimulus drives yields lower rebound in Indian equities, from and fi nally settled at 72.73 against the US contain the panic over the both in Treasuries and other their worst week in a decade as of dollar, which is its lowest value against the coronavirus, but economists sovereign-bond markets. That AFriday, proved to be short-lived. US dollar in over a year. from Fidelity International starves investors of decent Stocks reversed gains in the last hour The rupee had closed at 72.17 in the to SEB AB are questioning returns who then look for of the session, with the benchmark index previous session. how eff ective interest-rate regions with superior growth, briefl y nearing the correction zone, af- The health ministry yesterday reported cuts could be in halting a and that’s when emerging ter the health ministry reported two new two more positive cases of the novel coro- slowdown in global growth. markets start to benefit from coronavirus cases yesterday. navirus in India, one in Delhi and another That’s why the clamour this mayhem. The S&P BSE Sensex closed at in Telangana. for emerging-market local It’s a long shot with multiple 38,144.02, down 0.4%, after rising as “The government is monitoring the bonds is turning into one of assumptions, but one that much as 2.1% earlier in the day. It’s the situation at the highest-level,” said health the smartest bets in town. needs to be factored into longest stretch of losses for the gauge in minister Harsh Vardhan. Last week’s US equity rout portfolio allocations. more than nine months, data compiled by The rupee yesterday opened at 72.07 has given dollar bears new But the immediate future Bloomberg show. and traded between 72.04 and 72.73 dur- ammunition and yield hunters might not look so good for The NSE Nifty 50 Index fell 0.6% while ing the day. who had switched away from emerging-market stocks. the India NSE Volatility Index climbed to a The rupee has fallen sharply over the hard-currency debt in time While the MSCI Inc index rose nine-month high. two sessions, falling over 100 paise against are reaping the rewards. as much as 1.6% yesterday Two people have been diagnosed with the the US dollar. Domestic debt of countries – led by China, Hungary and new coronavirus, one in the country’s capi- Analysts expect the rupee to remain such as Nigeria and Czech Turkey – it was recovering tal New Delhi and another in the southern under pressure amid weaker economic Republic did so well amid from a more than 7% retreat state of Telangana, the Press Information data and foreign fund fl ows. the rout, they outperformed last week that was its biggest Bureau of India reported yesterday. The government has advised citizens dollar debt by the most in four slide since 2011. The nation has so far only recorded to refrain from non-essential travel to the years. And solid evidence that And it may be that investors three other cases, all from Kerala in the far worst aff ected countries, including China, central banks are ready to step have yet to fully factor in south, who have all since recovered. South Korea, Iran and Italy. up stimulus to support virus- the earnings outlook for the Asian markets otherwise largely re- The epidemic, which originated in the battered markets is providing sector. Analysts’ estimates fell bounded yesterday on optimism of mon- Chinese province of Hubei, has killed a fresh spur, as tumbling for a sixth consecutive week, etary policy support to ease the impact of 3,000 people worldwide as authorities Treasury yields and growing the worst streak of reductions the epidemic. race to contain infections in Japan, Iran, expectations for US currency since August. Global central banks advocated policy Italy, South Korea and the US. weakness add to the allure. But the degree of those cuts, support to coronavirus-hit economies as Traders, cited by news agency Reuters, “Over-allocate to local-currency at only 2.7% since January 17, the death toll topped 3,000. said the rupee could weaken further with emerging-market sovereigns,” doesn’t begin to address the “Fear of the pandemic will recede only 73 per dollar level likely to be tested dur- a Societe Generale SA team full impact of the epidemic when facts start coming out,” said Umesh ing the week. But they expect the Reserve including London-based on emerging economies, Mehta, Mumbai-based head of research at Bank of India to step in and sell dollars to Phoenix Kalen, a director of the lingering eff ects of the Samco Securities Ltd “We expect the in- prevent signifi cant losses in the local unit. emerging-market strategy, US-China trade war and a dex to stay volatile with sessions of gains The news of the fresh coronavirus cases wrote in a report last week. slew of idiosyncratic risks followed by selling as more details on the pushed domestic shares lower, with the “Most EM currencies are from debt defaults to lower spread of coronavirus emerge.” Sensex falling over 150 points. likely weakening less than the consumer demand and Sixteen of the 19 sector indexes com- “With new cases of coronavirus getting forwards imply, while bond political conflicts. So, don’t piled by BSE Ltd fell, led by a gauge of confi rmed in India – one in Delhi and one markets off er appealing capital put too much hope on the metal companies. The rupee witnessed heavy volatility and settled at 72.73 against the US in Telengana, market sentiments got se- gains as yields drop further.” diminished price-earnings State Bank of India Ltd dropped 5.1% dollar yesterday, which is its lowest value in over a year verely dampened. Markets would continue Global central bankers ratios at the end of last week. and was the biggest drag on the Sensex to remain highly volatile and weak till the from Japan to the UK Once estimates fully reflect while HCL Technologies Ltd had the larg- Inox Leisure Ltd plunged 12%, its sharp- Meanwhile the Indian rupee fell sharply fast spread of coronavirus gets controlled,” pledged yesterday to take the risks, they may look much est gain, increasing 2.8%. est decline since January 2014, while peer against the US dollar yesterday after two said Siddhartha Khemka, head of retail re- action to stabilise financial less attractive. Multi-screen movie-theatre operator PVR dropped 9.6% to a fi ve-month low. fresh cases of coronavirus detected in In- search at Motilal Oswal Financial Services. Deluge of new shares to heap pressure on China’s market

Bloomberg “I have already started to worry vowed to guide borrowing costs lower, One fi rm not low on cash but still Beijing about the rising funding pressure on and the country’s securities regulator announcing a stock-sale plan last week the stock market” in China, said Jiang signifi cantly relaxed the grip on public was profi table Chinese battery giant Liangqing, a fund manager at Ruis- companies’ follow-on stock off erings. Contemporary Amperex Technology hina’s resilient fi nancial mar- en Capital Management in Beijing. They’re among myriad government ef- Co, a supplier of Tesla Inc. kets may come under a new “When economic data and corporate forts to bolster economic growth amid CATL is looking to raise as much Csource of pressure: A fl ood of earnings start to refl ect the impact of persisting production hiccups due to as 20bn yuan in a private share share sales and corporate-bond issu- the virus outbreak later this year, the the virus outbreak. placement to fund research and ex- ance as fi rms rush to make the most of eagerness of listed companies to raise Among key changes to the rules on pansion efforts. favourable policies. money will be the last straw to crush selling additional equity, the China While the new stock-sale rules will Forty mainland-listed companies the stock market.” Securities Regulatory Commission “make fi nancing new investments eas- announced plans in February to sell The resilience of Chinese fi nancial shortened by half the lock-up period ier, which can boost earnings growth,” additional shares, the highest since assets last month was built on opti- for shares placed privately and allowed Capital Securities Corp analyst Amy April 2016, according to Bloomberg- mism about government liquidity, but companies to provide bigger discount Lin said, “They may not be as good for compiled data. The value of onshore showed signs of falling apart last week to lure investors. Also, fi rms on the the secondary market given the poten- corporate debt issued by Chinese bor- with surging volatility amid a global small-cap ChiNext no longer have to tial liquidity drainage.” rowers last month more than doubled stock rout. Yet while the Shanghai be profi table for two straight years be- Policy makers will have to tread a year-ago levels. Composite Index had its worst week fore being qualifi ed to hold non-public fi ne line between meeting the fi nanc- While Chinese regulators expect in 10 months, some stock benchmarks stock off erings. ing needs of companies, particularly greater corporate access to fi nancing globally had their worst in 10 years or Most of the fi rms announcing equi- small businesses, and preventing a to help cushion the coronavirus impact more. The Shanghai gauge rose 3.2% Investors look at computer screens showing stock information at a brokerage house ty-sale plans in February were cash- stock market rout as the coronavirus’ on an economy that was already slow- yesterday after falling 3.7% on Friday, in Shanghai. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 3.2% yesterday after falling 3.7% on strapped, not-state-owned entities. domestic economic impact becomes ing, a spike in equity and bond supply which was the biggest decline since the Friday, which was the biggest decline since the record sell-off on February 3. “The private sector has been suff ering clearer. is likely to siphon off cash from exist- record sell-off on February 3. from severe funding crunch in the past The Shanghai Composite fell 12% in ing securities at a time when concern Pressure on the domestic market is mainland stocks through the trading tration-based method for companies several years” due to the government’s 2016, the most in fi ve years and among about the economic fallout from the increasing, after foreign investors sold link with Hong Kong yesterday. to issue exchange-traded debt. Finan- deleveraging campaign, said Li Chang- the world’s worst performers, as a epidemic is growing. an average $844mn of Chinese shares On March 1, China’s latest amend- cial stocks, in which brokerage shares min, managing director at Snowball record 1.1tn yuan of additional shares Data released on Saturday showed per day last week, the heftiest selling ments to Securities Law took eff ect, have a nearly 21% weight, gained 3% Wealth in Guangzhou. “So nearly all was sold. Authorities clamped down an offi cial gauge of manufacturing in on record. which, among other things, replaced a yesterday. companies in the private sector are on such off erings, and just 135bn yuan China fell to a record low. Foreigners bought a net $597mn of stringent approval system with a regis- Last month, China’s central bank likely in demand to raise money.” was issued last year. Gulf Times 10 Tuesday, March 3, 2020 BUSINESS

KUWAIT KUWAIT OMAN

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume

Al-Eid Food Ksc 79.00 5.05 14,428 Oman Packaging 0.29 0.00 - Al-Madar Finance & Invt Co 87.00 -7.94 55,499 Qurain Petrochemical Industr 253.00 -2.32 2,637,010 Oman Oil Marketing Company 0.87 0.00 - Gulf Petroleum Investment 18.70 3.89 1,368,657 Advanced Technology Co 700.00 0.00 - Oman National Engineering An 0.13 0.00 - Mabanee Co Sakc 794.00 3.79 4,014,535 Ekttitab Holding Co Sak 12.60 1.61 672,011 Oman Investment & Finance 0.11 1.79 297,869 Inovest Co Bsc 64.50 0.00 - Real Estate Trade Centers Co 28.80 0.00 - Oman Intl Marketing 0.52 0.00 - Al-Deera Holding Co 21.20 0.00 - Acico Industries Co Kscc 119.00 1.71 281,354 Oman Flour Mills 0.58 0.00 4,500 Mena Real Estate Co 33.00 4.10 401,588 Kipco Asset Management Co 102.00 18.19 147,897 Oman Fisheries Co 0.08 0.00 - Amar Finance & Leasing Co 51.60 0.00 - National Petroleum Services 1,350.00 -1.60 150 Oman Europe Foods Industries 1.00 0.00 - United Projects For Aviation 488.00 -2.40 8,784 Alimtiaz Investment Group 121.00 2.54 3,127,531 Oman Education & Training In 0.22 0.00 - National Consumer Holding Co 100.00 0.00 - Ras Al Khaimah White Cement 65.00 0.00 - Oman Chromite 3.64 0.00 - QATAR Amwal International Investme 40.00 0.00 - Kuwait Reinsurance Co Ksc 185.00 0.00 - Oman Chlorine 0.32 0.00 - Equipment Holding Co K.S.C.C 18.20 1.68 335,730 Kuwait & Gulf Link Transport 62.70 2.28 53,703 Oman Ceramic Company 0.42 0.00 - Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume Arkan Al Kuwait Real Estate 81.60 2.13 17,000 Humansoft Holding Co Ksc 2,986.00 -2.10 672,776 Oman Cement Co 0.27 0.00 - Gfh Financial Group Bsc 70.00 4.48 268,951 Automated Systems Co Kscc 62.10 0.00 - Oman Cables Industry 0.57 -2.06 25,743 Energy House Holding Co Kscp 19.90 7.57 1 Metal & Recycling Co 0.00 - Oman & Emirates Inv(Om)50% 0.00 - Zad Holding Co 13.94 -1.20 10,900 50.40 0.06 Kuwait Co For Process Plant 279.00 6.08 149,721 Gulf Franchising Holding Co 0.00 - Natl Aluminium Products 0.00 - Widam Food Co 6.10 -2.40 21,294 67.50 0.17 Al Maidan Dental Clinic Co K 1,220.00 0.00 - Al-Enma’a Real Estate Co 2.17 227,810 National Real Estate Develop 0.00 - Vodafone Qatar 1.00 -3.00 7,044,051 61.10 5.00 National Shooting Company 9.50 17.28 467,237 National Mobile Telecommuni -1.60 67,699 National Mineral Water 0.00 - United Development Co 1.18 -2.81 11,755,437 737.00 0.09 Al-Ahleia Insurance Co Sakp 420.00 0.00 - Sanad Holding Co Kscc 0.00 - National Life & General Insu 2.60 20,000 Salam International Investme 0.37 -3.65 1,771,725 0.00 0.32 Wethaq Takaful Insurance Co 28.10 0.00 - Unicap Investment And Financ 12.02 101,025 National Gas Co 0.00 - Qatar & Oman Investment Co 0.49 -7.05 3,145,123 49.40 0.24 Salbookh Trading Co Kscp 42.60 -3.18 107,506 Al Salam Group Holding Co 0.75 1,616,257 National Finance Co 0.00 - Qatar Navigation 5.64 0.53 231,796 26.90 0.14 Aqar Real Estate Investments 73.80 0.00 - Al Aman Investment Company 0.00 - National Detergent Co Saog 0.00 - Qatar National Cement Co 3.90 -6.36 2,074,903 57.00 0.63 Hayat Communications 56.90 5.37 84,370 Mashaer Holding Co Ksc 1.88 445,800 National Biscuit Industries 0.00 - Qatar National Bank 18.15 -3.66 5,167,019 70.40 3.92 Soor Fuel Marketing Co Ksc 122.00 0.83 362,028 Manazel Holding 6.34 224,100 National Bank Of Oman Saog 0.00 50,000 Qatar Islamic Insurance Grou 6.30 -0.32 70,797 36.90 0.19 Tamkeen Holding Co 5.20 0.00 - Tijara And Real Estate Inves 0.00 - Muscat Thread Mills Co 0.00 - Qatar Industrial Manufactur 3.04 4.79 84,713 47.00 0.08 Alargan International Real 107.00 0.00 - Jazeera Airways Co Ksc 0.34 241,815 Muscat Insurance Co Saog 0.00 - Qatar International Islamic 8.20 -3.53 1,858,519 891.00 0.54 Burgan Co For Well Drilling 71.60 0.00 - Commercial Real Estate Co -0.92 217,309 Muscat Gases Company Saog 0.00 - Qatari Investors Group 1.36 -4.82 307,060 96.60 0.18 Kuwait Resorts Co Kscc 55.50 4.72 518,293 National International Co 5.66 390,000 Muscat Finance 0.00 - Qatar Islamic Bank 15.29 -1.99 1,759,805 80.30 0.06 Oula Fuel Marketing Co 123.00 3.36 99,000 Taameer Real Estate Invest C 2.29 230,920 Muscat City Desalination Co 0.00 244 Qatar Gas Transport(Nakilat) 2.17 -0.91 6,224,753 22.30 0.11 Palms Agro Production Co 60.00 11.11 16,323 Gulf Cement Co -6.53 256,444 Majan Glass Company 0.00 - Qatar General Insurance & Re 2.07 0.00 - 41.50 0.18 Mubarrad Holding Co Ksc 68.00 13.33 895,925 Heavy Engineering And Ship B 3.72 65,446 Majan College 0.00 - Qatar German Co For Medical 0.54 -1.82 6,176,708 390.00 0.18 Shuaiba Industrial Co 128.00 0.79 9,550 National Real Estate Co 3.40 2,860,784 Hsbc Bank Oman 0.00 148 Qatar Fuel Qsc 18.80 -2.59 883,160 85.10 0.12 Aan Digital Services Co 12.50 8.70 8,575,049 Al Safat Energy Holding Comp 2.06 209,342 Hotels Management Co Interna 0.00 - Qatar First Bank 0.99 -3.59 2,009,440 19.80 1.25 First Takaful Insurance Co 44.50 4.22 13 Kuwait National Cinema Co 0.63 150 Gulf Stone 0.00 - Qatar Electricity & Water Co 14.90 -1.00 623,015 805.00 0.12 Kuwaiti Syrian Holding Co 28.50 -8.95 313,085 Danah Alsafat Foodstuff Co 13.27 2,380,604 Gulf Mushroom Company 0.00 - Qatar Exchange Index Etf 9.60 0.00 - 12.80 0.31 National Cleaning Company 61.00 -0.81 393,533 Independent Petroleum Group 0.00 - Gulf Investments Services 3.33 178,664 Qatar Cinema & Film Distrib 2.21 0.00 - 470.00 0.06 United Real Estate Company 58.00 -3.97 40,001 Kuwait Real Estate Co Ksc 4.15 1,241,320 Gulf Invest. Serv. Pref-Shar 0.00 - Al Rayan Qatar Etf 2.01 -2.33 4,070 97.90 0.11 Agility 754.00 5.31 5,606,874 Salhia Real Estate Co Ksc -1.15 375,125 Gulf International Chemicals 0.00 - Qatar Insurance Co 2.60 -3.67 3,910,635 430.00 0.10 Kuwait & Middle East Fin Inv 83.00 1.10 84,701 Gulf Cable & Electrical Ind 2.74 319,833 Gulf Hotels (Oman) Co Ltd 0.00 - Qatar Aluminum Manufacturing 0.57 -6.36 7,815,846 450.00 5.32 Fujairah Cement Industries 46.00 5.99 165,626 Kuwait Finance House 6.99 25,575,040 Global Fin Investment 0.00 - Ooredoo Qpsc 6.37 0.73 6,424,527 765.00 0.06 Livestock Transport & Tradng 176.00 0.00 - Gulf North Africa Holding Co 5.55 302,586 Galfar Engineering&Contract 0.00 289,355 National Leasing 0.75 -2.22 897,752 57.10 0.06 International Resorts Co 0.00 0.00 - Hilal Cement Co 0.00 1,000 Galfar Engineering -Prefer 0.00 - Mazaya Qatar Real Estate Dev 0.62 -4.46 8,283,448 100.00 0.39 National Industries Grp Hold 218.00 5.31 7,965,166 Osoul Investment Kscc -2.44 50,000 Financial Services Co. 0.00 - Mesaieed Petrochemical Holdi 1.67 -5.65 8,845,626 80.00 0.06 Warba Insurance Co 56.70 -10.00 80 Gulf Insurance Group Ksc -1.61 25,000 Financial Corp/The 0.00 - Al Meera Consumer Goods Co 15.45 -0.32 171,382 610.00 0.10 First Dubai Real Estate Deve 45.90 10.07 4,168,641 Umm Al Qaiwain General Inves 0.00 - Dhofar Tourism 0.00 - Medicare Group 6.66 0.94 377,408 66.70 0.49 Al Arabi Group Holding Co 198.00 0.00 - Aayan Leasing & Investment 3.33 1,955,477 Dhofar Poultry 0.00 - Mannai Corporation Qsc 3.15 3.45 834,249 43.40 0.18 Kuwait Hotels Sak 100.00 0.00 - Alrai Media Group Co Ksc 0.00 - Dhofar Intl Development 0.00 - Masraf Al Rayan 4.05 -0.49 20,126,918 36.90 0.27 Mobile Telecommunications Co 534.00 5.53 9,983,791 National Investments Co 1.69 1,346,408 Dhofar Insurance 0.00 - Al Khalij Commercial Bank 1.22 -2.40 869,668 120.00 0.17 Eff ect Real Estate Co 20.50 0.00 - Commercial Facilities Co 1.00 353,381 Dhofar Generating Co Saoc 0.00 3,063 Industries Qatar 8.25 -8.23 3,675,607 202.00 0.21 Tamdeen Real Estate Co Ksc 295.00 0.00 11,043 Yiaco Medical Co. K.S.C.C 0.00 - Dhofar Fisheries & Food Indu 0.00 - Islamic Holding Group 1.63 -6.21 543,883 66.50 1.28 Al Mudon Intl Real Estate Co 19.00 3.26 523,091 Dulaqan Real Estate Co 0.00 - Dhofar Cattlefeed 0.00 - Investment Holding Group 0.50 -2.54 2,957,344 350.00 0.12 Kuwait Cement Co Ksc 200.00 -2.44 279,515 Real Estate Asset Management 0.00 - Dhofar Beverages Co 0.00 - Gulf Warehousing Company 4.60 -0.22 5,266 90.00 0.26 Sharjah Cement & Indus Devel 42.20 0.00 - Construction Materials Ind 0.00 - Gulf International Services 1.26 -2.25 2,398,829 0.04 Kuwait Portland Cement Co 912.00 -1.94 96,051 Computer Stationery Inds 0.00 - Ezdan Holding Group 0.52 -2.61 23,549,056 0.26 Educational Holding Group 346.00 9.84 520 Bankmuscat Saog 0.00 949,267 Doha Insurance Co 1.15 -0.26 538,600 0.44 Bahrain Kuwait Insurance 200.00 0.00 - Bank Nizwa 0.00 20,000 Doha Bank Qpsc 2.32 0.09 7,831,045 0.10 Asiya Capital Investments Co 36.60 1.67 10 OMAN Bank Dhofar Saog -2.59 8,567 Dlala Holding 0.49 -8.10 141,791 0.11 Kuwait Investment Co 148.00 2.07 788,620 Arabia Falcon Insurance Co 0.00 - Commercial Bank Psqc 4.42 -2.32 3,470,239 Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume 0.10 Burgan Bank 278.00 0.72 2,352,285 Aloula Co 0.00 - Barwa Real Estate Co 3.07 -0.97 4,424,429 0.08 Kuwait Projects Co Holdings 200.00 0.00 1,407,894 Al-Omaniya Financial Service 0.11 0.00 13,119 Al Khaleej Takaful Group 1.70 -3.24 297,236 Voltamp Energy Saog 0.14 0.00 - Al Madina For Finance And In 12.90 2.38 7,442,053 Al-Hassan Engineering Co 0.02 0.00 - Al Ahli Bank 0.71 0.43 2,257,140 Vision Insurance Saoc 0.10 0.00 5,500 Kuwait Insurance Co 317.00 -3.94 800 Al-Fajar Al-Alamia Co 0.75 0.00 - United Power/Energy Co- Pref 1.00 0.00 - Al Masaken Intl Real Estate 39.30 0.00 - Al-Anwar Ceramic Tiles Co 0.16 1.28 11,000 United Power Co Saog 1.94 0.00 - Intl Financial Advisors 50.80 7.86 1,436,287 Al Suwadi Power 0.06 3.33 25,390 United Finance Co 0.09 0.00 - KUWAIT First Investment Co Kscc 33.30 5.38 7,346,867 Al Sharqiya Invest Holding 0.09 0.00 - Ubar Hotels & Resorts 0.13 0.00 - Al Mal Investment Company 9.70 -12.61 28,464,468 Al Maha Petroleum Products M 0.74 0.00 3,000 Takaful Oman 0.13 0.00 - Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume Bayan Investment Co Kscc 36.00 -10.00 236,996 Al Maha Ceramics Co Saoc 0.19 0.00 - Taageer Finance 0.11 0.00 - Egypt Kuwait Holding Co Sae 390.00 0.00 - Al Madina Takaful Co Saoc 0.08 0.00 2,010,000 Sultan Center Food Products 52.50 7.14 501,000 Sweets Of Oman 0.55 0.00 - Coast Investment Development 36.90 -1.60 1,619,938 Al Madina Investment Co 0.02 -8.00 100,000 Kuwait Foundry Co Sak 325.00 9.43 50 Sohar Power Co 0.06 0.00 - Privatization Holding Compan 50.00 6.84 21,000 Al Kamil Power Co 0.35 0.00 - Kuwait Financial Centre Sak 105.00 4.90 1,452,702 Sohar International Bank 0.11 0.00 - Injazzat Real State Company 83.80 0.00 - Al Jazerah Services -Pfd 0.55 0.00 - Ajial Real Estate Entmt 166.00 8.50 25,897 Smn Power Holding Saog 0.07 0.00 - Kuwait Cable Vision Sak 14.00 0.00 - Al Jazeera Steel Products Co 0.12 0.00 - Kuwait Finance & Investment 47.50 1.06 160,175 Shell Oman Marketing - Pref 1.05 0.00 - Sanam Real Estate Co Kscc 36.00 -5.26 100,000 Al Jazeera Services 0.18 1.73 300,530 National Industries Co Ksc 166.00 1.22 12,000 Shell Oman Marketing 1.10 0.46 26,231 Ithmaar Holding Bsc 22.30 0.00 - Al Izz Islamic Bank 0.06 0.00 48,000 Kuwait Real Estate Holding C 31.40 0.00 - Sharqiyah Desalination Co Sa 0.19 -9.95 335,760 Aviation Lease And Finance C 244.00 2.09 303,039 Al Buraimi Hotel 0.88 0.00 - Securities House/The 45.40 4.37 1,022,553 Sembcorp Salalah Power & Wat 0.13 0.00 - Arzan Financial Group For Fi 38.10 4.38 6,161,508 Al Batinah Power 0.06 3.45 293,700 Boubyan Petrochemicals Co 611.00 -1.45 482,328 Salalah Port Services 0.60 0.00 - Ajwan Gulf Real Estate Co 12.90 3.20 1,015,211 Al Batinah Hotels 1.13 0.00 - Al Ahli Bank Of Kuwait 251.00 0.80 754,193 Salalah Mills Co 0.50 0.00 - Kuwait Business Town Real Es 40.90 5.68 681,722 Al Batinah Dev & Inv 0.07 0.00 - Ahli United Bank (Almutahed) 326.00 3.16 1,436,562 Salalah Beach Resort Saog 1.38 0.00 - Future Kid Entertainment And 90.30 -9.70 10 Al Anwar Holdings Saog 0.08 2.56 211,000 National Bank Of Kuwait 939.00 8.43 23,985,747 Sahara Hospitality 3.12 0.00 - Specialities Group Holding C 75.90 0.00 - Al Ahlia Insurance Co Saoc 0.40 0.00 - Commercial Bank Of Kuwait 500.00 0.00 555,607 Renaissance Services Saog 0.48 0.42 51,000 Abyaar Real Eastate Developm 6.50 12.07 11,588,780 Ahli Bank 0.15 0.00 - Kuwait International Bank 266.00 7.69 4,157,528 Raysut Cement Co 0.49 -2.79 89,500 Dar Al Thuraya Real Estate C 39.60 -26.94 7,351 Acwa Power Barka Saog 0.60 0.00 - Gulf Bank 272.00 5.84 17,555,614 Phoenix Power Co Saoc 0.06 0.00 - Kgl Logistics Company Kscc 33.30 2.46 1,337,580 Abrasives Manufacturing Co S 0.05 0.00 - Al-Massaleh Real Estate Co 38.00 0.00 - Packaging Co Ltd 2.21 0.00 - Combined Group Contracting 223.00 5.19 356,465 A’saff a Foods Saog 0.60 0.00 - Al Arabiya Real Estate Co 27.00 0.00 390,850 Ooredoo 0.51 -0.77 92,112 Jiyad Holding Co Ksc 38.60 -1.53 623,863 0Man Oil Marketing Co-Pref 0.25 0.00 - Kuwait Remal Real Estate Co 19.70 1.03 4,231 Ominvest 0.33 0.00 - Warba Capital Holding Co 54.50 3.02 10,015 #N/A Invalid Security 0.00 0.00 - Alkout Industrial Projects C 850.00 0.00 - Oman United Insurance Co 0.34 0.00 358,677 Gulf Investment House Ksc 49.60 -6.24 51,580 #N/A Invalid Security 0.00 0.00 - Oman Telecommunications Co 0.68 1.80 153,943 A’ayan Real Estate Co Sak 70.00 3.09 25,201 Boubyan Bank K.S.C 591.00 2.96 2,184,315 Oman Refreshment Co 1.21 0.00 - Investors Holding Group Co.K 12.50 12.61 52,091,041 Ahli United Bank B.S.C 308.00 10.79 37,685,737 Oman Qatar Insurance Co 0.09 -1.16 20,000 Al-Mazaya Holding Co 57.60 3.23 651,501 Osos Holding Group Co 109.00 -6.84 248,787 LATEST MARKET CLOSING FIGURES

Stresses build up on Wall St in week that felt like eternity

Bloomberg spreading across trading screens, Invesco New York Ltd fund manager Alessio de Longis got another alarming message: pictures of empty supermarket shelves in Milan sent by his Alex Manzara’s normal routine involves sister, who is working from home after the helping clients prepare for what’s coming next virus suddenly began to sicken hundreds in in markets. Last week, however, the veteran Italy. derivatives broker at RJ O’Brien & Associates “This all started on Monday and it feels like found himself making a diff erent kind of eternity,” said de Longis. calculation: How much food to stockpile in case Amid the chaos in the hedge-fund enclave of the swiftly spreading coronavirus triggers a run Stamford, Connecticut, Glen Capelo mulled on Chicago-area grocery stores like it has in whether he’d have to make a capitulation Hong Kong and Italy. far sadder than any trade: Cancelling a trip “If you have food for three weeks, you’re OK,” planned for next month to Florida’s Walt he concluded, assessing his stash of canned Disney World with his wife and 3-year-old goods, rice, pasta and a case of three-litre cans twin daughters. While the moves in markets of olive oil. are conjuring many comparisons to the It was a week for the history books in global global financial crisis of 2008, Capelo, the financial markets, with Treasury yields crashing head of interest rates trading at broker- to record lows, the US stock market plunging dealer Mischler Financial Group, compared into a correction at the fastest pace on record, the vibe more to the aftermath of the and assets like gold proving to be less of a September 11 attacks. haven than usual. “Markets are blowing up, but at the back of However, that was only one part of the drama. your mind you’re worried about the family at For the first time since the September 11 terror the same time,” Capelo said. attacks in 2001, the stress that flared up during Trading volumes were overwhelming. In the US a wild week on Wall Street was not only about stock market, more than 19bn shares changed investment losses. It also involved the very hands on Friday – the most since October 2008 health and safety of loved ones, and the ability – marking a record in dollar terms of about $1tn. to carry on with life as usual in a world that Some 20.7mn euro-dollar options contracts seemed to be changing dramatically – and traded over four days, when normally 1.5mn alarmingly fast. change hands on a good day. Those two separate sources of stress were The distractions, too, could be overwhelming. inextricably linked. Traders and fund managers “Every time a person coughs or sneezes, you’re report waking up in the middle of the night looking over your shoulder, like, ‘Everything to check futures prices, showing up at work OK over there?’” said Albert Marquez, a rates at 2am to trade the European session and Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (file). For the first time since the September 11 attacks in 2001, the stress that flared up broker specialising in eurodollar options at catching naps on yoga mats in the off ice. during a wild week on Wall Street was not only about investment losses. It also involved the very health and safety of loved ones, and the ability to Chicago Capital Markets, who works adjacent At the same time, they were scrambling to carry on with life as usual in a world that seemed to be changing dramatically, and alarmingly fast. to the CME trading pit. make contingency plans to work at emergency Coping strategies to deal with frayed nerves backup locations or at home, wondering if their at Newbridge Securities Corp in Boca Raton, policy as early as next month. Yields on US Although there’s a simple explanation for the varied, though some were predictable. Capelo, kids’ schools will close, and deciding whether Florida, had a hard time keeping his eyes off 30-year bonds surpassed a prior record large price moves amid coronavirus fears, the Mischler Financial broker, poured himself they’ll have to cancel business trips and spring the screen, whether it be checking his iPad low as investors piled into assets that have the outbreak has brought to the fore many of a Casamigos Reposado tequila on the rocks break getaways. during an open house at his grandson’s school traditionally acted as havens in challenging the underlying tensions within markets and more than one night this week, an indulgence The potential disruptions threaten to exacerbate – or those pesky trips to the bathroom in the times. the global economy. Already accommodative he usually saves for the weekend. stresses in markets following a week of historic middle of the night. Ten-year rates plunged past their previous low, central banks are again under pressure to Despite it all, that famous Wall Street bravado moves in asset prices that saw investing “When I get up to go, I look at futures,” he said. ending the week below 1.15%. lower rates, prompting renewed debate about appeared to be alive and well. Brad Bechtel, playbooks for 2020 ripped up across the globe. “It’s demoralising, it’s awful when you see that. Two-year debt now pays almost as little as it the function of monetary policy, while one the New York-based head of global currency The S&P 500 plunged 11% in the week, its worst It’s depressing.” did in the aftermath of the 2008 crisis. US high- inverted part of the Treasury curve is signalling trading at Jeff eries, hasn’t changed his globe- loss since the financial crisis in 2008. It’s down In the bond market, the entire US yield yield bond funds had $4.2bn of outflows in the that a US recession – seen by many as overdue trotting ways. He got back from London on 13% from its last record on Feb. 19 and entered a curve is now below 1.75%, the upper bound week that ended Wednesday, the biggest since – could finally be coming. Thursday, following another recent trip to 10% correction at the fastest pace ever. of the Federal Reserve’s target rate, a sign 2018. The yen had its steepest rally since 2017 In addition to a flood of calls and e-mails Germany. This weekend he’s off to Jackson Donald Selkin, a veteran chief market strategist of the pressure on the central back to ease on Friday. from clients panicked by the sea of red Hole, Wyoming, to hit the slopes. Gulf Times Tuesday, March 3, 2020 11 BUSINESS

DJIA WORLD INDICES Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume Indices Lt Price Change Dow Jones Indus. Avg 25,749.16 +339.80 Apple Inc 284.50 4.08 6,427,842 S&P 500 Index 2,987.81 +33.59 American Express Co 110.09 0.15 361,531 Nasdaq Composite Index 8,666.13 +98.76 Boeing Co/The 277.71 0.95 522,111 S&P/Tsx Composite Index 16,274.39 +11.34 Caterpillar Inc 124.84 0.48 319,747 Mexico Bolsa Index 42,065.80 +741.49 Cisco Systems Inc 39.55 -0.95 3,956,160 Brazil Bovespa Stock Idx 105,540.70 +1,369.10 Chevron Corp 93.79 0.48 1,047,966 Ftse 100 Index 6,641.50 +60.89 Walt Disney Co/The 116.85 -0.68 1,571,396 Cac 40 Index 5,308.06 -1.84 Dow Inc 40.20 -0.52 608,462 Dax Index 11,832.50 -57.85 Goldman Sachs Group Inc 200.63 -0.07 273,944 Ibex 35 Tr 8,704.10 -19.10 Home Depot Inc 221.71 1.78 503,957 Nikkei 225 21,344.08 +201.12 Intl Business Machines Corp 129.38 -0.59 559,580 Japan Topix 1,525.87 +15.00 Intel Corp 55.32 -0.36 3,123,830 Hang Seng Index 26,291.68 +161.75 Johnson & Johnson 135.70 0.91 830,815 All Ordinaries Indx 6,461.14 -50.36 Jpmorgan Chase & Co 117.01 0.78 1,578,442 Nzx All Index 1,848.70 -26.97 Coca-Cola Co/The 54.29 1.50 1,417,494 Bse Sensex 30 Index 38,144.02 -153.27 Mcdonald’s Corp 196.14 1.01 472,753 Nse S&P Cnx Nifty Index 11,132.75 -69.00 3M Co 151.39 1.44 564,496 Straits Times Index 3,007.72 -3.36 Merck & Co. Inc. 79.63 4.01 1,488,410 Karachi All Share Index 27,059.34 +769.96 Microsoft Corp 164.89 1.78 6,166,460 Jakarta Composite Index 5,361.25 -91.46 Nike Inc -Cl B 89.45 0.08 571,008 Pfizer Inc 34.08 1.97 2,277,802 Procter & Gamble Co/The 115.35 1.87 787,558 Travelers Cos Inc/The 123.80 3.33 167,940 TOKYO Unitedhealth Group Inc 253.05 -0.75 571,020 United Technologies Corp 129.57 -0.78 355,773 Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume Visa Inc-Class A Shares 186.04 2.35 1,509,751 Nidec Corp 13,045.00 2.07 1,523,700 Verizon Communications Inc 55.96 3.32 1,715,572 Isuzu Motors Ltd 999.60 -1.61 3,925,900 Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc 46.56 1.75 584,308 Unicharm Corp 3,540.00 1.20 2,962,800 Walmart Inc 113.39 5.30 979,266 Nomura Holdings Inc 491.20 2.44 24,676,000 Exxon Mobil Corp 52.37 1.81 3,185,704 Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd 6,838.00 3.76 2,660,200 Subaru Corp 2,623.00 0.13 4,263,500 Sumitomo Realty & Developmen 3,372.00 0.00 3,084,600 FTSE 100 Ntt Docomo Inc 2,947.00 0.67 9,405,600 Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd 2,682.00 -0.13 1,499,700 Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume Orix Corp 1,753.50 0.66 7,992,300 Asahi Group Holdings Ltd 4,100.00 -1.20 4,590,500 Anglo American Plc 1,835.40 2.43 3,840,951 Keyence Corp 34,670.00 0.76 950,200 Associated British Foods Plc 2,263.00 0.35 669,129 Mizuho Financial Group Inc 146.20 -0.95 197,530,500 Admiral Group Plc 2,134.00 1.04 642,818 Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdin 3,679.00 -0.57 1,617,900 Ashtead Group Plc 2,384.00 -0.21 1,080,674 Japan Tobacco Inc 2,152.00 0.37 7,902,100 Antofagasta Plc 770.80 2.50 1,885,035 Sumitomo Electric Industries 1,291.50 0.08 4,065,700 Auto Trader Group Plc 518.40 -0.23 3,804,850 Daiwa Securities Group Inc 473.00 3.01 8,189,900 Aviva Plc 342.00 -2.51 15,195,592 Softbank Group Corp 5,038.00 0.50 22,682,600 Astrazeneca Plc 7,027.00 3.43 1,738,904 Panasonic Corp 1,036.00 0.53 13,479,600 The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange yesterday. Stock markets experienced Bae Systems Plc 609.40 0.16 5,112,306 Fujitsu Ltd 11,375.00 1.47 1,496,800 Barclays Plc 143.92 -3.24 60,865,252 exceptional volatility as investors tried to pinpoint the likely cost of the coronavirus crisis for world business. Central Japan Railway Co 18,330.00 3.09 773,000 British American Tobacco Plc 2,993.50 -2.25 3,751,597 Nitori Holdings Co Ltd 15,200.00 1.57 576,000 Barratt Developments Plc 751.20 -0.79 4,229,744 Ajinomoto Co Inc 1,881.00 3.81 3,431,700 Bhp Group Plc 1,434.60 1.14 6,438,127 Daikin Industries Ltd 14,670.00 -0.37 1,502,500 Berkeley Group Holdings/The 4,753.00 -0.02 363,840 Mitsui Fudosan Co Ltd 2,504.00 1.07 5,768,600 British Land Co Plc 493.70 -1.46 3,640,967 Ono Pharmaceutical Co Ltd 2,225.00 0.68 1,652,100 Bunzl Plc 1,914.50 2.38 665,608 Toray Industries Inc 619.50 -0.83 9,871,000 Bp Plc 410.95 3.74 42,185,627 Bridgestone Corp 3,646.00 1.11 3,033,300 Burberry Group Plc 1,647.50 -0.09 2,402,165 Sony Corp 6,873.00 3.96 11,245,600 Stock markets see Bt Group Plc 139.76 -1.31 23,824,632 Astellas Pharma Inc 1,736.50 2.21 8,805,600 Coca-Cola Hbc Ag-Di 2,501.00 1.09 469,924 Hoya Corp 9,831.00 2.31 2,065,300 Carnival Plc 2,324.00 -4.56 2,197,824 Nippon Steel Corp 1,197.00 -1.56 7,352,800 Centrica Plc 73.48 1.89 21,793,268 Suzuki Motor Corp 4,330.00 -0.16 2,325,600 Compass Group Plc 1,703.50 -0.41 4,468,879 Nippon Telegraph & Telephone 2,533.50 0.16 8,829,700 Croda International Plc 4,672.00 2.59 256,920 Jxtg Holdings Inc 430.60 -0.78 18,912,500 Crh Plc 2,695.00 2.12 1,562,692 Murata Manufacturing Co Ltd 5,846.00 2.18 4,714,500 wild price swings Dcc Plc 5,554.00 0.40 288,767 Kansai Electric Power Co Inc 1,159.50 -0.43 5,022,200 Diageo Plc 2,801.50 1.30 3,569,001 Denso Corp 4,189.00 -0.73 2,286,400 Direct Line Insurance Group 311.20 1.37 4,784,166 Sompo Holdings Inc 3,917.00 -2.47 2,304,100 Evraz Plc 316.50 -3.00 4,454,308 Daiwa House Industry Co Ltd 2,999.00 0.65 2,443,000 Experian Plc 2,684.00 3.59 1,192,318 Dai-Ichi Life Holdings Inc 1,450.00 -1.93 6,478,000 Easyjet Plc 1,057.50 -3.91 3,822,717 Mazda Motor Corp 758.00 1.07 6,354,000 Ferguson Plc 6,750.00 0.15 373,260 Komatsu Ltd 2,181.50 -0.05 9,834,000 on virus concerns Fresnillo Plc 622.60 3.11 1,310,624 West Japan Railway Co 7,695.00 1.01 1,010,100 Glencore Plc 192.74 -0.27 25,785,462 Kao Corp 7,891.00 0.29 2,189,700 Glaxosmithkline Plc 1,630.40 4.37 8,962,506 central banks, including the Fed,” said currency into a refuge investment. Mitsui & Co Ltd 1,732.50 -2.86 13,116,500 AFP Gvc Holdings Plc 795.80 0.79 1,711,733 analysts at Charles Schwab. The Bank of England said in a state- Daito Trust Construct Co Ltd 10,880.00 -0.87 585,500 London Hikma Pharmaceuticals Plc 1,899.50 6.24 462,283 Otsuka Holdings Co Ltd 4,097.00 0.42 1,715,100 What market strength there was ment Monday that it was “working Hargreaves Lansdown Plc 1,554.00 1.14 1,352,663 Oriental Land Co Ltd 12,910.00 5.26 3,360,100 came “on a mixture of bargain hunt- closely” with “international partners Halma Plc 1,981.50 2.72 666,120 Sekisui House Ltd 2,137.00 0.94 3,098,400 tock markets experienced ex- ing and, perhaps more importantly, on to ensure all necessary steps are taken Hsbc Holdings Plc 519.30 -0.88 28,613,430 Secom Co Ltd 8,600.00 0.29 887,300 Hiscox Ltd 1,279.00 4.32 837,982 ceptional volatility on Monday hopes of major stimulus from central to protect fi nancial and monetary sta- Tokio Marine Holdings Inc 5,689.00 -1.93 3,075,900 Intl Consolidated Airline-Di 419.70 -11.08 12,766,595 as investors tried to pinpoint the banks”, said Russ Mould, investment bility”. Aeon Co Ltd 2,073.00 2.90 3,801,400 S Intercontinental Hotels Grou 4,265.00 -0.86 995,434 likely cost of the novel coronavirus cri- director at AJ Bell. “Markets typically Analysts warned of further tur- Asahi Kasei Corp 879.80 -2.32 9,452,700 3I Group Plc 993.10 -1.48 1,290,690 sis for world business. rise on interest rate cuts.” moil on trading fl oors as governments Kirin Holdings Co Ltd 2,117.50 2.05 5,706,900 Imperial Brands Plc 1,548.40 -0.41 2,218,729 Marubeni Corp 710.30 -0.91 7,380,600 European stocks kicked off the day Some analysts warned, however, struggle to contain the disease, which Informa Plc 661.00 -3.14 3,516,518 Mitsubishi Ufj Financial Gro 526.40 -1.03 89,178,500 with sharp gains, but then abruptly that investors should not place too has now killed more than 3,000 people Intertek Group Plc 5,260.00 -0.19 336,172 Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings 723.30 -0.41 8,847,100 switched direction when the European much hope in central banks, and any and infected almost 90,000. Itv Plc 114.10 -2.10 13,079,416 Fanuc Corp 18,130.00 0.89 1,690,000 Johnson Matthey Plc 2,463.00 -1.91 557,691 Union’s disease control agency raised stock market recovery could therefore “Markets face signifi cant uncertain- Fast Retailing Co Ltd 54,270.00 1.55 1,271,000 Kingfisher Plc 185.30 -2.14 7,968,556 its risk level for the novel coronavirus. be fragile. ty in the short term and remain at high Ms&Ad Insurance Group Holdin 3,439.00 -1.26 1,670,000 Land Securities Group Plc 823.80 -1.29 1,801,498 Across Europe, London’s FTSE The European Central Bank’s key risk of more downside given the un- Kubota Corp 1,513.00 -0.66 5,169,000 Legal & General Group Plc 253.30 -2.58 18,817,761 knowns around Covid-19,” said Shane Seven & I Holdings Co Ltd 3,742.00 1.24 3,330,100 100 rose 1.1% to close at at 6,654.89 rate is already negative, severely re- Lloyds Banking Group Plc 49.52 -1.35 213,295,150 Inpex Corp 934.40 0.16 7,177,000 points; Frankfurt’s DAX 30 fell 0.3% at ducing any scope for further easing, Oliver, a global investment strategist at London Stock Exchange Group 7,816.00 3.17 555,644 Resona Holdings Inc 405.30 -0.95 14,070,000 11,857.87, while Paris’ CAC 40 was up they said. AMP Capital Investors. Micro Focus International 716.80 -3.23 1,054,637 Fujifilm Holdings Corp 5,394.00 2.22 4,019,000 Traders remain worried the disease Marks & Spencer Group Plc 159.00 0.38 5,796,210 0.4% at 5,333.52. “There could be a limited amount Yamato Holdings Co Ltd 1,721.00 1.12 2,707,200 Mondi Plc 1,571.00 0.58 1,779,757 But strength on Wall Street – which that the central banks could do in terms “will disrupt economic activity more Chubu Electric Power Co Inc 1,396.50 -0.78 2,853,500 Melrose Industries Plc 202.20 -3.44 11,798,163 rebounded from very sharp losses of stimulus”, said Richard Hunter, head deeply and for longer than had been Mitsubishi Estate Co Ltd 1,878.00 1.84 7,866,200 Wm Morrison Supermarkets 179.95 5.08 7,086,477 last week to post gains of over 2% on of markets at Interactive Investor. expected a week or so ago”. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries 3,394.00 -0.73 2,009,000 National Grid Plc 1,008.00 2.56 6,800,449 Sysmex Corp 6,880.00 -0.56 1,086,200 Monday – helped European markets Some investors are still betting on a In Asian trade on Monday, Shanghai Nmc Health Plc 938.40 0.00 - Shiseido Co Ltd 6,405.00 -0.20 5,254,200 emerge from the red after governments Fed interest rate cut at its March 17-18 led gainers, rising 3.2% after dropping Next Plc 6,058.00 -0.39 274,305 Shionogi & Co Ltd 5,798.00 -0.80 2,546,800 and central banks said they would step policy meeting after governor Jerome more than 5% last week, while Hong Ocado Group Plc 1,132.00 6.39 1,763,882 Terumo Corp 3,519.00 1.18 3,346,500 Paddy Power Betfair Plc 0.00 0.00 - in if needed to soften the blow to the Powell made a rare unscheduled state- Kong closed up 0.6% after a loss of Tokyo Gas Co Ltd 2,149.00 -1.56 1,666,000 Prudential Plc 1,270.50 0.28 6,392,099 economy. ment on the outbreak, which he said around 4%. Tokyo Electron Ltd 23,330.00 4.50 2,122,000 Persimmon Plc 2,836.00 -0.11 1,672,038 Frankfurt still posted moderate loss- “poses evolving risks to economic ac- Tokyo rose 1%. East Japan Railway Co 8,284.00 -0.42 2,447,800 Pearson Plc 552.40 -0.93 3,256,733 es by the closing bell, while Paris eked tivity”. The gains came on hopes for gov- Itochu Corp 2,428.50 -1.34 8,094,500 Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc 5,740.50 0.34 1,406,975 Ana Holdings Inc 2,957.50 1.72 4,177,600 out a small gain. Powell said the central bank was ernment stimulus after an index of Royal Bank Of Scotland Group 172.35 -3.53 17,553,651 Mitsubishi Electric Corp 1,374.00 0.22 6,110,600 London added more than 1%, helped “closely monitoring developments and Chinese manufacturing activity fell to Royal Dutch Shell Plc-A Shs 1,707.80 2.79 7,494,500 Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Gr 3,457.00 -0.77 10,936,200 by a weakening pound against the euro their implications for the economic its lowest level on record in February Royal Dutch Shell Plc-B Shs 1,705.80 2.54 9,203,492 Relx Plc 1,878.50 0.59 4,203,225 as the EU and Britain kicked off Brexit outlook”, adding: “We will use our as factories around the country were Rio Tinto Plc 3,728.50 3.34 3,843,757 trade deal talks. tools and act as appropriate to support shuttered. Rightmove Plc 619.20 0.03 2,511,104 SENSEX “Concerns about the spreading of the economy.” Global government bond markets, Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc 614.40 -0.90 7,571,372 the coronavirus has been a key cata- US rate-cut expectations weighed meanwhile, benefi ted from investor Rsa Insurance Group Plc 517.40 -0.27 3,421,012 Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume lyst of the market uneasiness, though on the dollar against the euro, with money seeking a safe home, as well as Rentokil Initial Plc 506.20 4.59 6,354,043 Adani Ports And Special Econ 340.65 -0.45 2,510,491 expectations are rising that we may traders saying that the coronavirus expectations of softer monetary policy Sainsbury (J) Plc 203.50 3.96 9,929,317 Asian Paints Ltd 1,786.80 -0.62 1,219,296 worldwide. Schroders Plc 2,827.00 -0.95 165,129 see a coordinated response from global outbreak was turning the European Axis Bank Ltd 684.20 -1.88 13,854,352 Sage Group Plc/The 687.20 0.79 2,261,441 Bajaj Finance Ltd 4,360.75 -2.35 2,238,216 Segro Plc 834.80 1.66 2,144,605 Bharti Airtel Ltd 518.35 -0.98 9,910,097 Smurfit Kappa Group Plc 2,584.00 -0.54 416,975 Bharti Infratel Ltd 216.85 1.12 5,593,236 HONG KONG HONG KONG Standard Life Aberdeen Plc 275.30 -0.40 5,698,334 Bajaj Auto Ltd 2,792.20 -3.38 1,281,846 Ds Smith Plc 314.40 0.06 3,489,966 Bajaj Finserv Ltd 8,914.50 -1.51 309,031 Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume Smiths Group Plc 1,524.00 -0.59 623,630 Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd 412.35 -3.28 7,812,190 Scottish Mortgage Inv Tr Plc 579.00 3.21 5,416,503 Ck Hutchison Holdings Ltd -1.55 Cipla Ltd 401.95 -0.04 3,460,583 66.80 6,143,809 Hong Kong & China Gas 14.92 -0.53 22,412,657 Smith & Nephew Plc 1,773.50 1.98 1,291,488 Hang Lung Properties Ltd 0.82 Coal India Ltd 169.35 0.56 11,962,711 17.16 6,835,460 Bank Of Communications Co-H 5.07 1.40 19,171,901 Spirax-Sarco Engineering Plc 8,530.00 1.61 105,091 Ck Infrastructure Holdings L -1.51 Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories 2,905.55 -0.74 888,866 52.30 2,127,680 China Petroleum & Chemical-H 4.07 1.24 134,422,908 Sse Plc 1,552.00 1.50 2,631,969 Hengan Intl Group Co Ltd 2.85 Eicher Motors Ltd 17,013.40 2.48 348,370 59.50 4,597,728 Hong Kong Exchanges & Clear 254.80 -0.39 5,124,136 Standard Chartered Plc 551.00 -2.06 8,548,999 China Shenhua Energy Co-H 3.99 Gail India Ltd 99.65 -4.55 19,521,525 14.06 30,321,279 Bank Of China Ltd-H 3.11 0.97 327,976,355 St James’s Place Plc 1,002.50 -1.28 1,620,707 Cspc Pharmaceutical Group Lt 0.68 Grasim Industries Ltd 668.45 -2.73 2,245,349 17.88 23,721,629 Hsbc Holdings Plc 52.80 -0.66 45,360,511 Severn Trent Plc 2,540.00 3.04 588,253 Hang Seng Bank Ltd -0.37 Hcl Technologies Ltd 549.70 2.87 8,175,982 161.90 2,896,754 Power Assets Holdings Ltd 54.75 -1.35 3,081,769 Tesco Plc 228.50 0.00 19,988,802 China Resources Land Ltd 2.78 Housing Development Finance 2,179.65 0.18 3,957,634 36.95 35,540,346 Mtr Corp 43.05 -1.82 4,978,530 Tui Ag-Di 592.60 -1.23 3,628,717 Ck Asset Holdings Ltd -0.62 Hdfc Bank Limited 1,179.60 0.17 7,332,449 48.40 8,043,765 China Overseas Land & Invest 26.65 1.91 21,175,415 Taylor Wimpey Plc 203.50 0.64 24,308,555 Sino Biopharmaceutical 0.71 Hero Motocorp Ltd 1,975.45 -3.72 1,207,967 11.36 35,991,240 Tencent Holdings Ltd 389.60 0.93 23,089,586 Unilever Plc 4,296.00 3.02 3,195,814 Henderson Land Development 0.14 Hindalco Industries Ltd 149.75 -3.94 11,441,351 35.80 5,034,988 China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd 6.25 1.63 26,690,395 United Utilities Group Plc 959.80 1.65 1,310,118 Aia Group Ltd -0.59 Hindustan Petroleum Corp 194.95 -1.32 3,637,789 76.45 31,230,325 Link Reit 71.40 -1.11 10,485,631 Vodafone Group Plc 133.68 -0.51 54,785,741 Ind & Comm Bk Of China-H 1.31 Hindustan Unilever Ltd 2,159.45 -0.70 1,707,337 5.40 252,933,503 Sino Land Co 10.56 -0.38 8,596,940 John Wood Group Plc 356.10 -2.76 1,873,712 Want Want China Holdings Ltd 1.66 Icici Bank Ltd 506.10 1.78 28,642,076 6.12 16,583,679 China Resources Power Holdin 9.44 1.83 5,518,866 Wpp Plc 738.60 -1.89 5,121,526 Sun Hung Kai Properties -1.62 Indiabulls Housing Finance L 284.40 1.63 70,157,790 109.00 5,541,585 Petrochina Co Ltd-H 3.10 2.65 194,845,810 Whitbread Plc 3,762.00 -3.39 1,154,239 New World Development -1.70 Indusind Bank Ltd 1,079.25 -2.25 5,724,823 9.85 26,456,346 Cnooc Ltd 11.14 4.31 104,900,983 - Geely Automobile Holdings Lt 2.89 Infosys Ltd 741.05 1.28 9,821,523 14.26 47,990,464 China Construction Bank-H 6.44 2.22 420,255,076 Swire Pacific Ltd - Cl A -0.07 Indian Oil Corp Ltd 103.95 -1.70 14,580,876 70.15 1,421,729 China Mobile Ltd 61.30 0.00 23,390,253 Sands China Ltd -0.69 Itc Ltd 195.30 -1.14 18,560,049 36.00 19,924,625 TOKYO Wharf Real Estate Investment 3.25 Jsw Steel Ltd 235.00 -0.30 10,865,535 36.50 6,965,562 Clp Holdings Ltd -1.16 Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd 1,599.00 -1.32 4,762,847 80.85 4,695,396 Country Garden Holdings Co 3.88 Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume Larsen & Toubro Ltd 1,160.90 -2.24 3,177,486 10.72 30,523,483 Aac Technologies Holdings In 1.86 Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd 458.30 0.27 9,225,488 52.00 15,119,075 GCC INDICES Japan Airlines Co Ltd 2,668.50 -0.35 5,300,000 Shenzhou International Group 5.59 Maruti Suzuki India Ltd 6,285.15 0.03 1,219,764 101.10 5,078,010 Indices Lt Price Change Recruit Holdings Co Ltd 3,850.00 2.45 7,929,600 Ping An Insurance Group Co-H 0.52 Ntpc Ltd 103.90 -2.49 15,614,944 87.10 35,495,038 Softbank Corp 1,430.00 1.24 14,759,800 China Mengniu Dairy Co 28.45 1.79 11,552,548 Oil & Natural Gas Corp Ltd 89.10 -3.10 24,442,896 Doha Securities Market 9,215.81 -274.33 Kyocera Corp 6,742.00 -0.79 1,582,300 Sunny Optical Tech 5.12 Power Grid Corp Of India Ltd 183.50 1.10 10,991,263 127.40 13,643,673 Nissan Motor Co Ltd 460.50 -0.67 24,801,100 Boc Hong Kong Holdings Ltd 26.70 -0.19 12,227,107 Reliance Industries Ltd 1,316.15 -0.94 13,486,634 Kuwait Stocks Exchange 4,624.64 +45.46 T&D Holdings Inc 1,039.00 -2.44 4,474,000 China Life Insurance Co-H 0.55 State Bank Of India 287.40 -5.15 66,711,413 18.36 27,914,331 Toyota Motor Corp 7,154.00 0.38 9,062,200 Citic Ltd 9.06 4.74 20,538,000 Sun Pharmaceutical Indus 369.50 -0.91 6,915,567 Oman Stock Market 4,081.17 -0.16 Kddi Corp 3,051.00 -0.23 13,655,600 Galaxy Entertainment Group L -0.58 Tata Steel Ltd 364.05 -4.64 20,220,772 51.15 17,007,800 Nitto Denko Corp 5,360.00 -1.11 1,546,700 Wh Group Ltd 8.04 1.52 35,462,438 Hitachi Ltd 3,653.00 0.44 5,686,800 Tata Consultancy Svcs Ltd 2,001.30 0.06 2,667,076 Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd 3,773.00 0.27 7,641,000 Tech Mahindra Ltd 744.55 0.02 3,784,522 Jfe Holdings Inc 977.00 -2.50 7,583,800 Titan Co Ltd 1,244.15 -0.83 2,773,593 Sumitomo Corp 1,524.00 -1.33 6,564,900 Tata Motors Ltd 125.40 -2.75 111,585,697 Canon Inc 2,791.50 2.12 12,287,800 Upl Ltd 514.35 -1.03 1,907,596 “Information contained herein is believed to be reliable and had been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. The Eisai Co Ltd 7,954.00 -0.34 1,225,200 Ultratech Cement Ltd 4,141.70 -1.85 378,937 accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed. This publication is for providing information only and is not intended Nintendo Co Ltd 37,090.00 2.26 2,147,900 Vedanta Ltd 110.95 -2.68 32,732,879 as an off er or solicitation for a purchase or sale of any of the financial instruments mentioned. Gulf Times and Doha Bank Shin-Etsu Chemical Co Ltd 12,145.00 0.00 2,972,200 Wipro Ltd 220.80 -0.29 5,766,175 or any of their employees shall not be held accountable and will not accept any losses or liabilities for actions based on Mitsubishi Corp 2,665.50 -0.91 7,400,600 Yes Bank Ltd 31.55 -8.82 127,750,922 this data.” Smc Corp 43,690.00 1.44 331,100 Zee Entertainment Enterprise 233.85 -2.28 9,392,956 Gulf Times Tuesday, March 3, 2020 15 BUSINESS

Australian fi nancial regulators hold emergency call on coronavirus

Reuters Australia after the country reported release a joint statement after their but easier fiscal policy will also be Sydney its first community transmission of crisis meeting. required, particularly when both the coronavirus yesterday. Australian financial futures are now the household sector and business Worryingly, the nation’s chief medical almost fully pricing in a quarter point investment are already weak,” said Australia’s financial regulators off icer warned yesterday it was cut to the cash rate to 0.5% from NAB chief economist Alan Oster. scheduled an emergency call no longer possible to completely an all-time low of 0.75%. Last week, Data due Wednesday is expected to yesterday to discuss the impact prevent people with the coronavirus futures implied a one-in-five chance show the economy expanded at a of the coronavirus outbreak, two from entering the country. of such a move. below-trend pace of 2% last quarter, sources familiar with the matter If the RBA eases policy, as expected, Australian Treasurer Josh although growth in the current told Reuters, as the country looks to it will become the first central bank Frydenberg reiterated yesterday quarter could turn negative. reduce the risk of recession. in the developed world to respond to his government’s fiscal response to Oster is one of a number of The conference call, involving the the coronavirus, with the US Federal the coronavirus will be “responsible, economists, including those from country’s prudential regulator, Reserve and the Bank of Japan also considered and targeted”. Westpac, UBS and Goldman Sachs, markets watchdog and central bank, standing ready to act. Frydenberg said he expects the who on Monday changed their comes as markets now expect the “In time of apparent crisis, the RBA A$2tn ($1.3tn) economy to further forecasts to predict a 25-basis-point Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to will want to feel ahead not behind the extend its 29 years of recession-free cut at Tuesday’s meeting. cut its cash rate as early as today at curve,” Betashares chief economist growth, despite a run of sub-par The decision will be released at 0330 its scheduled monthly review. David Bassanese said in a note. economic data since the middle of GMT. The epidemic in China – Australia’s “Indeed, Australia now faces its 2018. Representatives for the RBA and the No 1 trading partner – is having an greatest risk of recession since the Economists reckon a stronger fiscal Australian Prudential Regulation Josh Frydenberg, Australia’s treasurer, speaks during Question Time in the House of outsized impact Down Under with global financial crisis, with private response is needed to support Authority declined to comment. Representatives chamber at Parliament House in Canberra. Frydenberg said he a travel ban hitting the tourism demand already weak, and with economic growth. The Australian Securities and expects the A$2tn ($1.3tn) Australian economy to further extend its 29 years of and education sectors and having much less fiscal and monetary “Lower interest rates can help cash Investments Commission did not recession-free growth, despite a run of sub-par economic data since the middle of 2018. spillover eff ects on overall spending. firepower to respond.” flows, lower the exchange rate immediately respond to requests for There are now 33 confirmed cases in It is unclear if the regulators will and potentially boost confidence, comment.

More traffi c, night lights show China Virus deals shattering factories restart

Reuters cy satellites show that the mean blow to Asia factories Beijing/Singapore density of nitrogen dioxide – a noxious gas emitted by motor ve- hicles, power plants and industrial Reuters early 300mn people have facilities – dropped signifi cantly Tokyo gone back to work in Chi- during February 10-25, to mostly Nna since the Lunar New below 125 micromoles per square Year break as more companies metre in northern and eastern sia’s factories took a beating in restart business and coronavirus China. February from the coronavirus travel restrictions ease, although That compares to more than Aoutbreak with activity in Chi- many small fi rms are still strug- 200 micromoles in Jan 1-20, ac- na shrinking at a record pace, surveys gling to fi nd enough workers to cording to maps from Nasa’s Earth showed yesterday, raising the prospect of run plants. Observatory. a co-ordinated policy response by central Eighteen regions in mainland The drop in readings suggests banks to prevent a global recession. China have cut the emergency re- a greatly curbed industrial engine China’s factory activity suff ered the sponse level as of yesterday, and as the virus-led travel restrictions sharpest contraction on record in Feb- authorities eased travel restric- took hold. ruary, the Caixin/Markit Manufactur- tions amid a sharp drop in new “This is the fi rst time I have ing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) coronavirus infection cases. seen such a dramatic drop-off showed, underlining the crippling ef- The fl u-like epidemic has killed over such a wide area for a specifi c fects of tough travel curbs and public 2,912 people and infected more event,” said Fei Liu, an air qual- health measures taken to contain the than 80,000 across the country. ity researcher at Nasa’s Goddard outbreak. China transportation ministry Space Flight Centre in a statement That followed the Chinese govern- data showed an average of 15.8mn on Earth Observatory. ment’s similarly dire PMI release on the passengers returned from their Underscoring the sudden- weekend, which also showed a record hometowns per day last week, the ness of the economic downshift, pace of decline. third week after the prolonged Lu- the Caixin/Markit Manufactur- The slump in the world’s second-larg- nar New Year break. ing Purchasing Managers’ Index est economy dealt a severe blow to facto- That brings the total to 295mn (PMI) tumbled to 40.3 last month, ries across Asia, including those in Japan, people so far tracked by the min- the lowest on record, down sharp- South Korea and Taiwan, off ering the istry as having returned to their ly from 51.1 in January as well clearest evidence yet of the epidemic’s workplaces since the holiday, ac- as the 50-mark that separates damaging eff ects on global growth and cording to Reuters calculations growth from contraction. businesses. based on transportation ministry Daily coal consumption at six Fears the virus would wreak havoc on data. Increasing traffi c fl ows in big major coal-fi red power groups the global economy sent fi nancial mar- cities also indicate more commut- across China is now starting to kets into a tailspin last week and raised ing across the country. pick up, however, with 450,700 expectations of co-ordinated monetary Location technology fi rm tonnes consumed on Monday, the policy action by central banks to mitigate A worker wearing a face mask works on a production line manufacturing bicycle steel rim at a factory in Hangzhou, Zhejiang TOMTOM’s traffi c index shows highest level in fi ve weeks. the fallout. province. China’s factory activity suff ered the sharpest contraction on record in February, the Caixin/Markit Manufacturing congestion levels picked up no- China’s top offi cials have urged Trillions of dollars were wiped off eq- Purchasing Managers’ Index showed, underlining the crippling eff ects of tough travel curbs and public health measures taken to ticeably in most major cities on local authorities to do every- uity markets, with world shares posting contain the virus outbreak. Monday to their highest levels thing they can to help companies their biggest weekly decline since the since the virus outbreak. resume production, including ex- depths of the 2008 fi nancial crisis. cut spending on plant and equipment in year high in January while Indonesia’s confi dence. The country’s central bank – Public transportation systems tending cheap loans and simplify- “The slump in manufacturing activity the quarter to December, casting doubt factory sector returned to growth. the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) – has have also gotten busier. ing paperwork. looks to have had a signifi cant impact on on the Bank of Japan’s view that robust The dismal readings have bolstered also told banks to help fi rms struggling Of the 33 Chinese cities that According to Chinese authori- trade,” Capital Economics wrote in a re- domestic demand will make up for some speculation global policymakers will with repayments by extending loans and have metro lines, only three have ties, at least 11 regions in mainland search note on the Caixin PMI. of the weakness in exports. launch a co-ordinated response to con- not penalise them if they are late with system restrictions still in place: China have seen resumption rates “The PMIs also point to a major hit to “Near-term prospects for Japan’s in- tain damage to the world economy. payments. Wuhan where the virus origi- at companies with annual revenue employment, the eff ects of which will dustrial sector appear very bleak,” said Those expectations helped stocks re- “A rate cut only helps a little bit, by nated, Wenzhou in manufactur- above 200mn yuan ($28.73mn) take longer to reverse. And with the jump Joe Hayes, economist at IHS Markit, coup some of their heavy losses yester- easing debt service costs. But it does little ing hub Zhejiang province, and exceed 90%. But the matrix in virus cases overseas, there is a growing which compiles the survey. day. if anything to solve the bigger problems Urumqi in northwestern Xinjiang. doesn’t specify the utilisation risk of a protracted downturn in foreign South Korea’s factory activity also BoJ governor Haruhiko Kuroda yester- of cash fl ow interruption,” said Rob Car- Average daily passenger vol- rates at the fi rms, and excludes demand.” shrank faster in February, as export or- day joined US counterpart Jerome Powell nell, Asia- Pacifi c chief economist at ING umes at metros across the coun- small-sized enterprises. Investors now await PMI readings out ders contracted at the quickest pace in in pledging to take necessary steps to sta- in Singapore. try reached 10.2mn last week, up A “nightlight” index launched of major eurozone economies due later in over six years in a shattering blow to pro- bilise markets jolted by the virus. “This is where the BoJ’s special 65.15% from a week earlier, ac- by China Merchants Bank, based the day, which are also expected to point duction. In Australia, fi nancial regulators held loans...and the PBoC’s suggested eas- cording to data compiled by China on light intensity at a sample of to declining activity. Activity in Vietnam and Taiwan, two an emergency meeting to discuss the ing of banks’ response to late or delin- Association of Metros. 143 industrial parks across the Japan’s PMI showed its factory activ- key economies in the global technology economic impact of the outbreak, two quent loans is closer to what is needed.” But air quality measures indi- country at night, shows that work ity was hit by the sharpest contraction in supply chain, slipped into contraction sources told Reuters, as markets moved As well as capping long-term borrow- cate China’s industrial emissions resumption levels remain below nearly four years in February, reinforc- from growth the month earlier. to price in a central bank rate cut as early ing costs at around zero, the BoJ has remain well below normal. 55% as of February 28, compared ing expectations the economy may have Among Asian economies less reliant as this week. several loan programmes in place to Pollution data monitored by to a peak of more than 80% in late slipped into recession. on global trade, growth in India’s factory China, for its part, has injected large incentivise commercial banks to boost Nasa and European Space Agen- last year. Separate data showed Japanese fi rms sector eased slightly from a near eight- amounts of liquidity to shore up market lending. BoJ reassurance on coronavirus bolsters speculation of global policy action

Reuters asset purchases,” he said. The statement’s intensely focused on the downside risks from worsened enough yet for these things to Tokyo language suggested the BoJ would make full the virus,” Hatzius and Struyven said in a happen.” The BoJ next meets for a rate review use of its existing tools to flood markets with note. “We suspect that they view the impact on March 18-19. funds, before pondering additional monetary of a co-ordinated move on confidence as As of yesterday, Japan had 962 coronavi- Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda easing steps. Indeed, the BoJ subsequently greater than the sum of the impacts of each rus cases, including 705 from a cruise liner said yesterday the central bank will take nec- off ered ¥500bn ($4.62bn) in two-week funds individual move.” quarantined off its coast, according to the essary steps to stabilise markets jolted by the via market operations. Kuroda’s comments reinforced that view. public broadcaster NHK. coronavirus outbreak, bolstering speculation Investors also expect the central bank to Asian shares steadied from early losses Japanese authorities have confirmed five about co-ordinated global policy action. ramp up daily purchases of exchange- traded yesterday as investors placed hopes on more cases of coronavirus in Hokkaido, NHK Kuroda’s comments, made in an emergen- funds (ETF) to put a floor on stock prices. a coordinated global policy response to said later on Monday, bringing the total there cy statement just days after a similar move “Kuroda’s statement focused on market weather the damaging economic impact of to 77, the largest number of cases in Japan by Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, were operations and asset purchases, which meant the coronavirus epidemic. as the northern island declared a state of welcomed by markets as a signal the world’s the BoJ may make its ETF buying more flex- But some analysts warned markets against emergency. biggest central banks were mustering a co- ible to support stock markets or take steps to betting too much on additional BoJ easing A post off ice employee in the northwestern ordinated response to the crisis. avoid money markets from tightening,” said or globally coordinated rate cuts, given the prefecture of Niigata also tested positive for French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire Yoshimasa Maruyama, chief economist at dwindling tools some central banks have the virus, Japan Post said. also said yesterday that G7 major economies SMBC Nikko Securities. been left with. The customer windows at the post off ice would take “concerted action” to limit dam- In his own unscheduled statement issued Former BoJ board member Takahide where the employee worked would be closed age from the epidemic, with the group’s fi- on Friday, Powell said the Fed would “act as Kiuchi said Kuroda’s statement was not a pre- in the meantime, it said. nance ministers to discuss the best approach appropriate” to support the economy in the announcement of an imminent easing. The outbreak has heightened fears of by phone this week. face of risks posed by the epidemic. “US, European and Japanese central banks recession in Japan as supply chain disrup- Kuroda said financial markets have made Goldman Sachs’ economists Jan Hatzius could issue a joint emergency statement tions, slumping overseas tourist numbers and “unstable movements” amid heightened and Daan Struyven said Powell’s statement pledging to act against market turbulence,” event cancellations hurt an already fragile uncertainty over the impact on the economy “strongly hints” at an interest rate cut at or said Kiuchi, currently an economist at economy. from the epidemic. even before the Fed meets on March 17-18, as Nomura Research Institute. “That will prob- Japanese auto sales fell 10.3% in February Kuroda: The BoJ will monitor developments carefully, and strive “The BoJ will monitor developments care- well as the likelihood of co-ordinated action. ably happen before any joint interest rate from a year ago, data showed yesterday. to stabilise markets and off er suff icient liquidity via market fully, and strive to stabilise markets and off er “Chair Powell’s statement on Friday sug- cuts are pondered. Asia’s factory activity slumped with activity operations and asset purchases. suff icient liquidity via market operations and gests to us that global central bankers are In any case, I don’t think conditions have in China shrinking at a record pace. Gulf Times 16 Tuesday, March 3, 2020 BUSINESS China’s bunker fuel demand plummets as freight trade slows

Reuters in February and caused massive hubs such as Fujairah and Singapore steadily raise supplies of the fuel in (ZPC) were among the first to export which could help to improve bunker Singapore port congestion because of labour are expected to have slumped by 20- 2020 and target sales to China’s vast VLSFO under the new tax regime, fuel demand and encourage refiners shortages. 30%, according to estimates by five commercial fleet. putting the oil into bonded storage to increase VLSFO exports in the The resulting plunge in freight bunker traders. Instead, Chinese refiners cut crude in the ports of Dalian, Shandong and second quarter, trade sources said. China’s marine fuels sales fell by demand has knocked 40% off Asian The demand shock could also delay throughput by 1.5mn barrels per day Zhoushan, according to industry “The amount of oil our refineries are as much as 50% in February as the prices for very low-sulphur fuel Chinese refiners’ plans to boost in February as demand dived. officials directly involved in the able to supply does not necessarily rapidly spreading coronavirus and oil (VLSFO) since early January output of VLSFO, which yielded “Demand has dropped everywhere business. equal to the size of exports, as some prolonged Lunar New Year break and upended expectations of profits averaging about $15 a barrel in Asia, especially China,” said one CNOOC’s exports totalled 4,500 of the customs were still waiting for strangled freight movement in and an enduring shortage of the above Brent crude in February. Singapore-based bunker fuel trader, tonnes while ZPC’s exports were at staff to return to work,” a PetroChina out of the global manufacturing fuel stemming from stricter ship Marine fuel sales at the eastern port pointing to swelling inventories at 2,000 tonnes, they said, adding that executive said. powerhouse, trade sources said. emissions standards that kicked in of Zhoushan, China’s top bunkering Singapore and Fujairah in the United companies had kept volumes small Sinopec and China National The epidemic, which has killed this year. hub, hit a record 374,000 tonnes in Arab Emirates. as they became familiar with the Petroleum Corp (CNPC) have said almost 3,000 people and infected February bunker fuel demand in January, up 19% year-on-year. State refiners China National new system that requires approvals they can produce a combined 14mn about 80,000 in China alone, China is estimated to have fallen by Beijing also issued an export tax Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), from local customs to access bonded tonnes of VLSFO per year, while triggered the sharpest contraction 30-50% from the previous month, rebate for the fuel in January, leading PetroChina, Sinopec and privately- storage. However, congestion at other Chinese refiners could add at on record for Chinese factory activity while demand in rival bunkering to expectations that refiners would run Zhejiang Petrochemical Corp Chinese ports is easing gradually, least 4mn tonnes.

Virus hits Cambodia, HK fi nance chief sees property Vietnam garment holding up despite turmoil industries Bloomberg Hong Kong

AFP Lang Son, Vietnam ong Kong will avoid the kind of property market crash that Hfollowed previous economic ambodia’s multi-billion- slumps in the fi nance hub, according to dollar garment industry Financial Secretary Paul Chan. Cis at risk of chain disrup- “We do not see the risk of an off -the- tion from the deadly coronavi- grid type of downfall,” Chan said in an rus, its strongman premier said interview yesterday with Bloomberg yesterday, as the outbreak crip- Television’s Yvonne Man. ples Southeast Asia’s key indus- As Hong Kong’s economy reels from tries, bringing border trade to a the coronavirus outbreak that has com- trickle. pounded months of social unrest, the The death toll from the virus, world’s most expensive property mar- which emerged from Wuhan in ket risks a sharp decline in values as it central China, has reached over did following the Asian fi nancial crisis 3,000 worldwide – the bulk of in the 1990s, the Sars outbreak in 2003 the fatalities in the mainland. and the global recession in 2008. Beijing issued unprecedented Unlike after Sars, this time Hong lockdowns for cities and prov- Kong has a shortage of supply, fl ush inces most aff ected, bringing to liquidity and historically low interest a shuddering halt the so-called rates, Chan said. “Factory of the World” – key to “If people can keep their job it will be a global supply chain. a little easier for them to ride through The coronavirus has “shaken this diffi culty,” Chan said. the global economy”, said Cam- The Centaline Property Centa-City bodia’s strongman premier Hun Leading Index, which tracks exist- Sen yesterday. ing home prices, as of February 23 has Cambodia is already feeling dropped 6.5% since the end of June. the sting with its $7bn dollar The Hong Kong budget last week garment sector reliant on China unveiled by Chan includes HK$120bn for 60% of its raw materials. ($15.4bn) in relief spending and ushers Last week, the labour minis- in a period of anticipated defi cits, in- try announced 10 factories had cluding a record HK$139.1bn forecast downsized their production for the coming fi scal year. lines, leaving 3,000 workers out The centrepiece of Chan’s budget is of work. a HK$10,000 cash handout to perma- But the full impact of the nent residents age 18 and older. coronavirus is expected to hit Other measures include tax breaks in March, when nearly 200 fac- for individuals and businesses, as well tories are expected to run out of as funding for various industries. Chan: Expecting the cash handouts to start positively aff ecting the economy this summer. their reserve inventory of mate- Chan expects the cash handouts to rials. start positively aff ecting the economy “Giving a cash handout and appeal- “The rebound will be strong but to mired in recession after months of po- Group Inc economists said in a report This could spell doom for this summer. ing to people to come out to spend, en- what extent this rebound compares to litical unrest and now grappling with after the budget announcement. 160,000 workers and employees He said he is looking at starting reg- couraging the business sector to come the past remains to be seen,” he said. the coronavirus crisis. In a nod to concerns that the gov- – more than 20% of the sector’s istration for the payments in early July up with incentive programmes to com- Economists forecast a second Time Lag In January, Chan had ernment’s fi scal resources are limited, 700,000-strong workforce. and processing them over the summer plement this initiative from the gov- straight year of contraction for Hong played down expectations for a hand- Chan said measures including con- Hun Sen said he had asked months. He pushed back against crit- ernment, I think people will of course Kong’s economy, the fi rst back-to- out as it would push the defi cit past sumption taxes are up for discussion. China to send materials urgently ics of the handout who say it risks being depending on their own personal cir- back annual recessions on record. HK$100bn. “Hong Kong has been famous for a in order to avoid suspending saved, or even spent overseas, rather cumstances, support us and support The government projects growth of The time lag between announcing very simple and low tax system,” Chan workers. than at local businesses. Hong Kong.” -1.5% to +0.5%. Economists are scep- and implementing the cash handout said. “I’m going to invite scholars, A labour ministry offi cial told Instead, he urged those who get the Still, while Chan forecast a forceful tical that the cash handout and other also means it likely won’t help spur business sector and tax experts to work AFP yesterday the country is ex- payment to open their wallets and for rebound for the economy he stopped measures will make an immediate, economic growth until at least the together with us as to the appropriate pected to receive “some” by the businesses to entice them to do so. short of a confi dent prediction. meaningful diff erence with the city second half of 2020, Goldman Sachs response.” end of March, though it would not meet its full demand. Garment worker Pann Sokchea, who toils in Phnom Penh’s manufacturing district, SoftBank CEO faces tougher questions in US after market plunge fears cuts to her crucial overtime pay. “Factories no longer have Bloomberg designed to specifically address its involvement. Jeff eries Group. “It looks like Japanese banks are cloth coming in, so workers are Tokyo Will he fund a big buyback? worried about concentration risks.” concerned about their jobs,” she SoftBank had ¥19.25tn of interest-bearing debt as told AFP. Elliott has called for a buyback of as much as of December 31, a 23% increase since the start of Neighbouring Vietnam also Masayoshi Son’s pitch to US hedge funds and $20bn, which would be several times SoftBank’s the fiscal year in April. stands to lose as much as $2bn financial institutions on the merits of SoftBank biggest repurchase to date. Sprint’s imminent merger with T-Mobile will lighten if China-sourced materials are Group Corp just got harder, with a record market The company’s last buyback was its biggest at the load by about ¥4.9tn. delayed for another fortnight, plunge that has made investors skittish and raised ¥600bn ($5.5bn). Announced in February 2019, it Still, SoftBank may find it a challenge to balance Le Tien Truong, director general risks for its portfolio companies. sparked a rally that pushed the stock to its highest shareholder returns with big-ticket investments in of garment corporation Vinatex, The Japanese billionaire will be in New York for the price in about two decades. technology companies. told state-run media. first such meeting since the implosion of WeWork. Selling Alibaba shares to pay for a buyback, as The company had ¥3.8tn of cash and equivalents, Like Cambodia, the country’s In the months since, Paul Singer’s Elliott Elliott has proposed, could be a point of contention while more than ¥2.6tn of bonds are coming due in industry is reliant on China for Management Corp took a stake in SoftBank, with Son. the next three years. 60% of fabrics to fuel its cloth- arguing the Japanese company’s shares are In the past, Son has used its stake as collateral to What is the Vision Fund’s future? ing production lines according to undervalued compared with its assets. borrow money for big acquisitions, including the the Vietnam Textile and Apparel At yesterday’s event, organised by Goldman Sachs $32bn purchase of chip designer ARM Holdings. The Vision Fund is recovering from a series of Association (VITAS). Group Inc, Son will have to make his case after the Son said during SoftBank’s latest quarterly financial stumbles. WeWork’s plan to go public last year So far, its garment exports fastest market correction on record over concerns briefing that he’d prefer to sell as little as possible imploded, forcing SoftBank to arrange a rescue dropped 1.7% to $4.5bn in the of the coronavirus. and that there’s “no rush” to do so. financing of $9.5bn in October. fi rst two months of this year. That may make it more diff icult for the money- Son: Likely to point to the approved sale of While Elliott and SoftBank have yet to discuss Uber, despite a recent surge, is trading about 24% But exporters of fi nished losing startups he has backed – like Didi Chuxing, Sprint Corp, a rally in Uber Technologies Inc specific amounts, a buyback is an easy sell for below last year’s off ering price. products to China are also feel- Grab and Oyo – to go public. shares and Elliott’s purchase of SoftBank stock Son, since one was already in the works before the The fund has suff ered other high-profile setbacks, ing the heat as container trucks It may also heighten concerns about SoftBank’s as signs of improving fortunes. activist’s involvement, the person familiar said. including investments in failed online retailer slow to a crawl at the border. massive debt load. SoftBank has also stoked expectations when Brandless Inc, dog-walking app Wag Labs Inc and In northern Lang Son, rows of Son, 62, is likely to point to the approved sale of for more than $10bn of losses in the past two it announced on February 19 plans to borrow pizza robot company Zume Pizza Inc. trucks wait hours – or even days Sprint Corp, a rally in Uber Technologies Inc shares quarters. as much as ¥500bn by putting up shares of its Elliott wants SoftBank to set up a special – to bring their goods through and Elliott’s purchase of SoftBank stock as signs of Son is personally handling interactions with Elliott, Japanese telecom unit as collateral. committee to review investment processes at the the main international crossing. improving fortunes. according to a person familiar with the matter. How risky is Soft Bank’s debt load? Vision Fund. It also argues the fund has dragged A shortage of Chinese labour Convincing investors the tide has turned will hinge Chief financial off icer Yoshimitsu Goto, chief down the share price despite making up a small means unloading operations, on a handful of key questions. operating off icer Marcelo Claure, head of the Vision The loan has raised questions about SoftBank’s portion of assets under management, said people previously completed in just How will he respond to Elliott? Fund Rajeev Misra, and SoftBank Group’s Robert massive debt pile. SoftBank said the money will familiar with the discussions. Son himself has over an hour, can now take an Townsend are also closely involved, the person come from 16 financial institutions and pledged conceded that missteps with the original fund are entire day. Speaking at an earnings briefing on February 13, said, asking not to be identified because the details as much as 953mn shares of SoftBank Corp as making it diff icult to raise money for a successor. Meanwhile, fruits and veg- Son called the New York-based activist investor are private. collateral. He said in February that SoftBank may need to etables languish in over-heated an “important partner” and said he’s in broad The news of Elliott’s stake, which people familiar Overseas banks will provide the bulk of the margin invest in startups using solely its own capital for a trucks as drivers dressed in pro- agreement with Elliott’s arguments for buybacks with the matter have said is a nearly $3bn, sent loan, with JPMorgan Chase & Co and Credit Suisse year or two. tective suits periodically check and increasing the stock price. SoftBank’s shares up the most in a year, but Group AG contributing ¥68bn each, the Nikkei “Vision Fund 1 companies will need more cash and their freshness. Son has signalled less receptiveness to Elliott’s they have since retreated over 10%. It’s not clear reported. “It’s very worrisome that to raise just a many of them will not be able to get it at the same “I’ve been here for four days,” other suggestions: selling more of the stake in whether representatives from Elliott will be at the few billion dollars of debt, Son had to go to a dozen valuation, which means more losses for SoftBank,” driver Le Thanh Duy, who was Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and reining in the Vision yesterday event, which was scheduled before banks. On top of that they had to put up collateral Jeff eries’ Goyal said. “Without a second Vision transporting dragonfruit, told Fund, a $100bn investment vehicle that accounted the activist investor disclosed its stake and is not worth $15bn,” said Atul Goyal, senior analyst at Fund, how will these companies get funding?” AFP. Gulf Times Tuesday, March 3, 2020 17 BUSINESS

Washington to host Huawei makes end-run Karachi-investment summit in September

Internews $2bn,” she stated. Stressing on around US ban by Islamabad the need to invest in Karachi – an IBA graduate and US-set- tled business tycoon – Shahid n event titled “Invest in Hashmi – maintained that the Karachi Summit” aimed city offered lucrative business Aat attracting foreign in- opportunities. vestment in the metropolis will He stressed on the need to using its own chips be organised in Washington DC make the investment envi- in the first week of September ronment in the metropolis 2020. conducive by focusing on the Bloomberg This was decided at a con- long-term economic policies, San Francisco vention named “The Karachi- restoration of law and order, ites” held in the US capital. judicious decision-making The event was attended by and fast implementation of uawei Technologies Co, the Chi- over 500 people including development plans. nese technology giant barred businessmen, doctors, engi- “All Karachi-born business- Hfrom doing business with US neers, civil society activists men, entrepreneurs, doctors, suppliers, is fi nding a way around the and entrepreneurs. scientists and educationists strict limits imposed by the Trump ad- Women Affairs Commis- who are in North America and ministration. sioner at Maryland Department Canada will be invited to the The Commerce Department, citing of Human Services in US Ishrat summit,” he said. national security concerns, has largely Memon informed the gathering “These stakeholders will forbidden American companies from that the summit would be led be guided to invest mainly selling Huawei the computer chips it by Fauzia Kasuri – a prominent in education and health- needs to make a piece of equipment in- Karachi-based politician – and care,” he added. Hashmi told tegral to newly introduced high-speed former executive member of the audience that 30 largest wireless networks. In response, China’s the PTI. multinational corporations largest technology company ramped up Citing reasons for choosing in the US would be invited to its own capabilities to manufacture the Fauzia, Ishrat said the veteran the event. gear, which is known as a base station. politician had travelled exten- In a sign that the self-reliance is work- sively around the globe in the Women Affairs ing, Huawei in the fourth quarter sold last 25 years and had collected Commissioner at more than 50,000 of these next-gener- around $2bn in charity for vari- Maryland Department ation base stations that were free of US ous organisations of Karachi of Human Services in US technology, according to Tim Danks, the including Akhuwat Founda- Ishrat Memon informed US-based Huawei executive responsible tion, Shaukat Khanum Hospital the gathering that the for partner relations. That’s only about and others. summit would be led 8% of the total base stations that Hua- Karachi known as the fi- by Fauzia Kasuri – a wei’s sold as of February, but the compa- nancial hub of the country prominent Karachi-based ny is quickly ramping up at its secretive has been showing a downward politician – and former HiSilicon division to make more of these economic trend after several executive member of the American component-free devices, entrepreneurs left the city due Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Danks said. to leadership crisis and settled “It’s still our intention to return to us- in North America and Europe. “For making Pakistan eco- ing US technology,” he said. The longer Speaking on the occasion, nomically independent, first Huawei goes without access to US sup- Fauzia said that businessmen, we have to make Karachi an pliers, the more unlikely it is to be able to An attendee inspects the quad-camera lens array on the back of a Huawei Technologies Mate 30 smartphone during the device’s multinational corporations investment-friendly city, he return to using them, Danks added. unveiling in Munich, Germany (file). In a sign that the self-reliance is working, the Chinese technology giant in the fourth quarter and all those who are interest- said. A base station is a typically suitcase- sold more than 50,000 of the next-generation base stations that were free of US technology, according to Tim Danks, the ed to invest in Karachi would Senior Republican Party po- sized piece of machinery that’s used to US-based Huawei executive responsible for partner relations. be invited to attend the sum- litical activist Shahab Qarni help connect wireless phones to fi xed- mit. informed the gathering that line networks carrying Internet traffi c, tions to mobile phone companies racing them. That’s a disadvantage at a time revenue crimps research and develop- She said that stakeholders US Senator from Maryland and it’s an essential ingredient in the to upgrade networks to the new stand- when new technology, such as 5G, is in its ment budgets and the ability to produce from Karachi will also be invit- Chris Van Hollen – who is a next, or fi fth, generation of mobile net- ard, which is designed to deliver data at infancy and still subject to big changes. the best chips in the future. Huawei’s ed to the event who will guide Karachiite by birth – would be works. Popular among telecommunica- faster speeds to a broad range of wire- The US initially clamped down on all HiSilicon chip unit designs semicon- the US citizens about the po- one of the chief guests at the tions providers, Huawei’s base stations lessly connected devices – not just mo- shipments of US supplies to Huawei, ductors and has them manufactured by tential of investing in the me- summit. are widely considered among the most bile handsets. Most of these base stations which had spent more than $10bn a year industry-leading plants owned by Tai- tropolis. He said that Karachi had reliable for the price. were made using stockpiled chips bought on US products, but later began mak- wan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. “Investment in Karachi will both positive and negative sp- US offi cials accuse Huawei of steal- before the ban. ing some exceptions. Xilinx and fellow But Washington is even now said to be bring investment in other cit- illover effects that impacted ing valuable intellectual property and While Huawei doesn’t disclose its sup- chipmakers Micron Technology Inc and looking into ways to curb the world’s ies of Pakistan too and help in the whole country. violating a trade embargo with Iran. The pliers, base stations typically rely on a Broadcom Inc have all reported falling largest contract chipmaker on grounds of ending deprivation and injus- “Economic prosperity of Trump administration blacklisted the kind of processor called a fi eld program- earnings on reduced or eliminated sales national security, and deprive Huawei of tice,” she said. Pakistan depends on the GDP company last year, saying there’s a risk mable gate array that’s made by Intel to Huawei. its largest semiconductor manufacturing Fauzia noted the summit contribution of Karachi,” he Huawei could give Beijing access to sen- Corp, a chipmaking colossus based in Attempts by the US to persuade Eu- partner. would not involve any funding said. sitive data coursing through telecommu- Santa Clara, California, and Xilinx Inc, ropean and other allied countries to ban The Chinese company led the market from the Pakistan government “Entrepreneurs can act like nications networks that employ its gear. in neighbouring San Jose. Those chips Huawei equipment have fallen short, and for base stations with a 28% share last and would enjoy the support a bridge between Karachi and Huawei has denied the allegations. Crit- provide fl exibility that makes it easier to chipmakers in Asia and Europe continue year, according to New Street Research. of US citizens, civil society US for the [economic] pros- ics also said the US government imposed update machines as new standards and to supply it. The investment company predicts de- members and US Chamber of perity of Pakistan,” he added. the sanctions to hobble China’s leader- features are added. Huawei’s chips are For their part, American chipmakers mand for that equipment will rise this Commerce. He observed that represent- ship in key aspects of 5G technology. application-specifi c, meaning they’re have argued that banning the supply of year with the 5G network buildout. Nokia “We all have volunteered ative of EXIM (Export and Im- As of early February, Huawei had tailored to particular functions and it parts that Huawei can get elsewhere is Oyj and Ericsson AB are its two largest for Karachi and our target is to port) Bank of America would shipped about 600,000 5G base sta- takes more time and money to replace counterproductive, saying that the lost competitors in this market. generate investment of around also be invited to the summit. Indonesia cuts reserve ratio Pakistan hikes petroleum levy by up to 106% Internews was increased from Rs6 to Rs12.33 GST on LDO, 2% on kerosene, 8% Islamabad per litre, showing an increase of on petrol and 13% on HSD. 105.5%. As a result, the government after virus fears spark selloff This would roughly create an is already estimated to have Facing a revenue shortfall of additional revenue stream of collected almost 44% higher over Rs480bn in the first eight about Rs65mn. revenue on key oil and gas Bloomberg months of the current financial The petroleum levy on kerosene is products in the first half of the Jakarta year, the government of Pakistan now the highest since April 2009. current financial year despite has increased by up to 106% the Ogra had worked out a reduction a 10% reduction in domestic rate of petroleum levy on various of Rs13.33 (13.4%) to Rs86.12 per production and 20% fall in imports. Bank Indonesia lowered lenders’ reserve oil products to raise an additional litre, but the finance ministry As such, the oil and gas sector is requirement ratios, seeking to shore up revenue of Rs10bn per month, or brought it down by Rs7 per litre. emerging as the single largest liquidity after concerns over the economic at least Rs40bn by June 30. The total tax on petrol now stands contributor to the country’s impact of coronavirus triggered a selloff in Documents suggest the ministry at Rs39 per litre. revenue stream. the nation’s stocks, bonds and currency. of finance increased the petroleum The petroleum levy on light diesel Three major factors are estimated The foreign exchange reserve levy on high speed diesel (HSD) oil (LDO) was increased from Rs3 to have contributed to the surge in requirement ratio for banks will be cut to by Rs7.03 to Rs25.05 per litre to Rs4.94 per litre, showing an petroleum revenues, including a 4%, from 8% previously, Bank Indonesia for March, from Rs18 per litre in increase of 65% or Rs1.94 per litre. substantial increase in various tax governor Perry Warjiyo told reporters February. This will have an additional impact rates, removal of legal challenges yesterday. This is estimated to generate an of about Rs30mn per month. and higher international prices. The cut, which is expected to add $3.2bn in additional revenue of Rs4.6bn per The regulator had suggested a Besides the 17% GST, the additional liquidity, is eff ective from March month. reduction of Rs8.94 per litre in government has more than 16, he said. Sources said that based on LDO rates, but the finance ministry doubled the rate of petroleum Reserve requirement ratios for banks existing tax rates, the Oil and Gas did not allow a reduction of more levy on HSD in recent months to engaged in trade financing will be lowered Regulatory Authority (Ogra) had than Rs7. Rs25.05 from Rs8 per litre, while by 50 basis points from April 1, for a period worked out a reduction of Rs12.04 This is despite the fact Dubai crude levy on petrol had also been of nine months, Warjiyo said. per litre (9.5%) in the ex-depot rate had come down from $62per increased to Rs19.75 instead of The move is aimed at lowering costs price of HSD, but the finance barrel on January 31 to $50 a barrel Rs10 per litre. for banks engaged in financing imports ministry persuaded the prime on February 28, down 19.35%. The petroleum levy on kerosene and exports, Bank Indonesia said in a minister to reduce its price by Rs5, On the other hand, the benchmark and LDO has been increased to statement. or just 3.9%. Brent fell from $60 a barrel to $51 a Rs12.33 and Rs4.94 per litre instead The monetary authority also pledged to Perry Warjiyo, governor of the Bank Indonesia (right), speaks as Erwin Rijanto, deputy With a 9.5% cut, the HSD price barrel, down 18.33%. of Rs6 and Rs3, respectively. intensify its “triple market intervention” governor (centre), and Dody Budi Waluyo, deputy governor, attend a news conference would have gone up to Rs115.2 In comparison, the prices of diesel Over the past many months, to stabilise the currency and bonds, and at the BI headquarters in Jakarta. The foreign exchange reserve requirement ratio for from Rs122.25 per litre fixed by and petrol in the local market were the government has increased said it will continue to coordinate with banks will be cut to 4%, from 8% previously, Warjiyo told reporters yesterday. The cut, the government. Likewise, the reduced by about 4%. petroleum levy rates to partially the government and relevant authorities which is expected to add $3.2bn in additional government raised the rate of levy The sources said that with no recoup a major revenue shortfall. to maintain economic stability, support liquidity, is eff ective from March 16, he said. on petrol by Rs4.75 to Rs19.75 from hopes of a substantial increase in The levy remains in the federal growth and accelerate reforms. Rs15 per litre, showing an increase the rate of tax collection by the kitty unlike GST, which goes to The latest measures add to a 25-basis-point an economist at PT Bahana Sekuritas in have been net sellers of more than $2bn of of almost 32%. Federal Board of Revenue in the the divisible pool taxes and thus cut in the key interest rate on February Jakarta wrote in a note. “The measures Indonesian bonds and stocks in February. The higher levy on petrol is remaining four months of the about 57% share is grabbed by the 20 and about $750mn in fiscal stimulus, could be eff ective to stabilise rupiah from The outflows have also pushed the nation’s estimated to fetch an additional current fiscal year and additional provinces. The petrol and HSD are announced last week by Finance Minister the supply-side of dollars and anchor the benchmark stock index to the brink revenue of about Rs3.6bn a month. financial requirements arising out the two major revenue earning Sri Mulyani Indrawati, to help sectors hit by thin domestic foreign exchange market,” of a bear market, prompting the stock Here too, Ogra had calculated a of subsidies to export industries, products for the government the coronavirus outbreak. Sambijantoro said. exchange to ban short-selling of securities price cut of Rs9.76 per litre (8.4%), the adviser to the PM on finance because of their massive and Indonesia reported its first confirmed cases The rupiah erased losses of as much as to stem ease volatility. but the finance ministry passed had no other option but to go for still growing consumption in the of the virus yesterday. 0.6% after the announcement of the RRR Other measures announced by the on only Rs5 (4.29%) reduction to increasing petroleum levy. country. While Bank Indonesia’s intervention to cut to close 0.4% higher at 14,265 to the central bank include: Foreign investors consumers. The government has already Total HSD sales are touching support rupiah and bond yields, including dollar. allowed to use rupiah raised from sale The petrol rate should have been increased general sales tax on all 600,000 tonnes per month daily reverse-auctions over the past The currency slumped 4.6% last month to of government bonds or stocks as an Rs106.84 per litre instead of petroleum products to a standard against a monthly consumption of few days, was focused on resolving the end as the worst performer in Asia. underlying in hedging their forex exposure. Rs111.60 fixed by the government. rate of 17% across the board to around 750,000 tonnes of petrol. demand-side problem for dollars, the Yield on the 10-year government bond Global investors urged to use foreign and The total tax on HSD now works generate additional revenues. The sales of kerosene and LDO are latest measures may help boost supply pared gains after rallying to its highest domestic banks as custodians in their out at Rs45 per litre. Until January last year, the generally less than 10,000 tonnes of the US currency, Satria Sambijantoro, level since January 8. Foreign investors investment activities in Indonesia. Similarly, the levy on kerosene government was charging 0.5% per month. Gulf Times 18 Tuesday, March 3, 2020 BUSINESS

Britain’s demands for US trade talks set to test special relationship

Britain says will protect health to put pressure on the bloc in separate “We have the best negotiators in the By comparison, the EU accounted for of cars, ceramics, food and drink, chicken and hormone-treated beef into service and food standards; trade talks on a future relationship. business and of course, we’re going 45% of all UK exports and 53% of UK and professional services including Britain. deal could give boost to sectors As a negotiating team heads to to drive a hard bargain to boost imports. architects and lawyers, would be “In a trade deal with the US, we will not from salmon to ceramics; trade Brussels to start those discussions, the British industry,” Johnson said.”Most Johnson, the face of Britain’s campaign among the biggest winners from the diminish our food safety standards mandate hints UK could reconsider government set out its mandate for importantly, this transatlantic trade deal to leave the EU, has repeatedly said the trade deal. and we will also not put the NHS on the digital tax talks with the United States, warning will reflect the unique closeness of our ability to strike new trade deals with “Trading Scottish smoked salmon table,” British trade minister Liz Truss that London would walk away if its two great nations.” other countries is a major benefit of for Stetson hats, we will deliver said. “If we don’t get the deal we want Reuters demands are not met. The mandate hinted London could Brexit. lower prices and more choice for our we will be prepared to walk away.” London Britain said it wanted to achieve “huge reconsider its plans to introduce the But opposition political parties said shoppers,” Johnson said. Washington’s negotiating objectives, gains” by removing barriers to trade tax in April on big tech companies like the modest potential boost to gross Both sides hope a deal can be reached published last year, include pressing but that its much-loved National Health Google, Facebook and Amazon after domestic product would not make up as soon as this year, but there are many for full market access for US Britain unveiled its mandate for trade Service (NHS) would not be on the table criticism by Washington. for the economic hit Britain will take hurdles. pharmaceutical products and medical talks with the United States yesterday, in talks, and that its food standards The government said its analysis from leaving the EU. The government reiterated that the devices, which would require changes with Prime Minister Boris Johnson would be maintained. showed a deal with the United States “Today’s analysis is clear: the gains NHS was “not for sale” — addressing to NHS pricing restrictions and could vowing to drive a hard bargain in That could set the two sides on a could boost transatlantic trade by from the best-case trade deal with criticism that a deal could let private US increase the cost of drugs. negotiations that are set to test their collision course, putting additional £15.3bn ($19.61bn) over 15 years, and Donald Trump will not come close to healthcare providers into Britain’s state- Britain’s Chief Trade Negotiation “special relationship”. After leaving the pressure on a relationship already increase the size of the British economy outweighing what we expect to lose funded health system. Adviser, Crawford Falconer, who European Union in January, Johnson strained by London’s decision to allow by 0.16%. The United States is currently from leaving the EU,” said Sarah Olney, It also vowed to uphold high standards previously worked as New Zealand’s wants to pursue a trade deal with China’s Huawei a limited role in its 5G Britain’s biggest trading partner after Liberal Democrat spokesperson for on food safety and animal welfare amid chief negotiator, will represent the Washington to try to not only champion mobile network and a proposed digital the EU, accounting for nearly 19% of all International Trade. fears from farmers that the government government in the talks, supported by Britain’s new independence but also services tax. its exports in 2018 and 11% of imports. The government said manufacturers will allow US-produced chlorine-washed dozens of off icials.

Eurozone factories Jack Welch, who reshaped suffer supply disruptions General Electric, dies at 84 from virus Bloomberg Bloomberg also had tremendous passion for peo- Frankfurt New York ple,” William Conaty, whose 40-year GE career included serving as human resources chief under Welch, said in a Euro-area factories saw the first ack Welch, the champion of cor- 2014 interview. “If your wife was sick, clear signs of the coronavirus porate effi ciency who built General he’d want to know how she was doing.” hitting their business in Febru- JElectric Co into one of the world’s Welch also worked six days a week, ary, with widespread delivery largest companies and infl uenced gen- taking only Sunday off to golf — he delays and steep declines in erations of business leaders, has died. called working weekends “a blast” — foreign orders. He was 84. and expected similar dedication from The epidemic, which has spread His death was reported yesterday by those who wanted to get ahead. to the European continent after CNBC, which cited his wife, Suzy. “I never once asked anyone, ‘Is there emerging in China late last year, is The former GE chairman and chief someplace you would rather be — or threatening to halt a much-await- executive offi cer, whose blunt style and need to be — for your family or favour- ed gradual recovery in manufac- ceaseless cost cutting earned him the ite hobby or whatever?”’ he said in his turing. It could also test the ability sobriquet “Neutron Jack,” mentored 2005 book, Winning. of the European Central Bank proteges who went on to run some of Welch delayed his mandatory age- and euro-area governments to the world’s best-known companies. 65 retirement for almost a year for a respond with fiscal stimulus. Named “Manager of the Century” by fi nal challenge: a $53bn bid for Hon- An IHS Markit survey showed Fortune magazine in 1999, he presided eywell International Inc that collapsed that lead times for the delivery over a stock surge of almost 3,000% when he balked at European regulators’ of inputs lengthened for the during a two-decade tenure. demands for concessions. first time in a year, mainly as “He became the gold standard of A lifelong Boston Red Sox fan, Welch a result of factory closures in greatness, the icon of industrial im- would test executives and potential China. To meet orders, compa- agination,” said Jeff rey Sonnenfeld, a hires on their baseball knowledge. He nies reduced inventories at the Yale University business professor who was also a golf addict, hitting the links pace rarely seen over the past knew Welch since the 1980s. “His track with Presidents George H W Bush and decade. They also pulled back record over those 20 years as CEO is Named “Manager of the Century” by Fortune magazine in 1999, he presided over a stock surge of almost 3,000% during a Bill Clinton and executives including from buying. hard to see excelled anywhere.” two-decade tenure. Warren Buff ett and Bill Gates. “The concern is that coronavi- Known simply as Jack to even low- After leaving GE, Welch served as a rus-related delays in shipments level employees, Welch became the lag behind the pre-September 11 level come a boyhood stutter — “the most Over a fi ve-year span in the 1980s, part-time adviser, a partner at invest- threaten to constrain produc- youngest CEO in GE’s history in 1981. He for virtually all of Immelt’s 16 years as infl uential person in my life,” he he sold more than 200 businesses and ment fi rm Clayton Dubilier & Rice and tion in the coming months,” said created a leaner company, yet one whose CEO. wrote in his 2001 autobiography Jack: closed dozens of factories. Annual consultant to companies including Chris Williamson, an economist dependence on fi nance would eventually Soon after Enron Corp collapsed in Straight From the Gut. dismissals of the 10% of employees JPMorgan Chase & Co He taught at at IHS Markit. That could pro- prove to be a threat. Along the way, he late 2001, GE found itself facing ac- After a close hockey defeat as a deemed the lowest performers also be- the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- long “a downturn that already moulded GE’s culture to refl ect his de- counting questions about whether youngster, Welch fl ung his stick across came standard. Welch’s moves would nology’s business school, opened a extends to over a year.” manding personality, one larger than his Welch relied on moves such as one- the ice, prompting his mother to march shrink the workforce by one-third to management institute bearing his The virus-related disruptions 5-foot-7-inch (1.7-metre) frame. time asset sales to produce consistent- into the locker room, grab him by the 239,000 people. “A successful leader name and stayed in the public eye with come just as the euro area’s “I like challenging people. I like de- ly steady profi t gains. GE Capital under jersey and shout: “You punk! If you can shock an organisation and lead its guest-host gigs on CNBC and New factory downturn was starting to bate. I like all those things,” he told Welch grew so vast that unit’s strug- don’t know how to lose, you’ll never recovery. An unsuccessful leader will England Sports Network. ease. While still indicating con- interviewer Charlie Rose less than two gles in the 2008-2009 fi nancial crisis know how to win.” shock an organisation and paralyse it,” Welch married Carolyn Osburn in traction, IHS Markit’s Purchasing months after his 2001 retirement. “And would imperil all of GE. The company In 1957, he graduated with honours Welch said in a 1994 Industry Week 1959, and they had four children be- Managers’ Index for manufac- yet I love having a coff ee with ’em, too.” has since exited nearly all of the lend- from the University of Massachusetts at interview. “Organisations constantly fore divorcing in 1987. He was married turing rose to the highest level Welch stepped down four days before ing businesses. Amherst with a bachelor’s degree in en- need to be regenerated.” to corporate lawyer Jane Beasley for 13 in a year. At 49.2, it was slightly the September 11 terrorist attacks. He “There’s been some revisiting of the gineering. Three years later, he received GE under Welch spent more than years. They divorced in 2002 amid rev- above an initial estimate. remained active for more than a decade robustness of the fi nancial services a doctorate in chemical engineering $25bn on acquisitions, and he pushed elations of an aff air with Harvard Busi- In February, investment-goods as a consultant and media commentator. model. GE Capital was providing cover from the University of Illinois and took a into fi nance as the US economy shifted ness Review editor Suzy Wetlaufer that producers saw the weak- Business leaders extolled his ability for some other parts of the business,” $10,500-a-year job with GE in Pittsfi eld, away from manufacturing. He looked began when Wetlaufer was interview- est performance; consumer to boost profi t and shareholder wealth Sonnenfeld said. There was a “back- Massachusetts, where the company de- overseas, too, boosting foreign sales by ing him for an article. goods grew modestly. Output with his restless, results-driven ap- lash that did dog Jack Welch.” veloped new businesses in plastics. more than 50%. The two married in 2004 and went continued to fall in Germany proach. GE became the world’s biggest John Francis Welch Jr was born No- Working his way through the ranks He pioneered widely imitated train- on to collaborate on “Winning,” but but reached its highest level in company by market value at more than vember 19, 1935, in Peabody, Massa- from vice president to vice chairman, ing programmes, including “Work- not before divorce proceedings opened more than a year. The situation $500bn in 1999. chusetts. He was the only child of John Welch gained a reputation as a maver- Out,” in which employees learned to a public argument over Welch’s for- worsened in France and Italy. Imitators across corporate America Sr, a Boston & Maine Railroad conduc- ick, questioning whether GE was being accelerate decision-making with days tune, with his second wife’s lawyers With the spread of the coronavi- copied his leadership strategies, and tor, and Grace Andrews Welch. run the right way. He saw GE’s future in of brainstorming. In 1995, Welch im- claiming his asset valuation of $456mn rus showing no signs of abating, recruiters snapped up lieutenants in- Growing up in Salem, Massachu- plastics, medical equipment and fi nan- plemented the Six Sigma quality con- was at least $100mn too low. The case Bundesbank President Jens cluding W James McNerney Jr, who setts, he was outspoken and athletic. cial services, not household appliances. trols to improve manufacturing proc- was settled in 2003. Weidmann said on Friday the later became Boeing Co’s CEO, and He played golf, hockey and baseball at At 45, Welch succeeded Reginald esses. Noting GE’s success, companies By then, Welch’s retirement package outbreak will almost certainly Robert Nardelli, who ran Home Depot Salem High School, where he was vot- Jones as chairman and CEO. While GE around the world would adopt a similar had been shown to include his $11mn weigh down growth in Europe’s Inc and Chrysler. Another GE execu- ed “most talkative and noisiest” boy was profi table, Welch was concerned methodology. Central Park West apartment in New largest economy. Yet he also tive, Jeff rey Immelt, would best them by classmates and wrote in the school that it was too big to be fl exible. He Welch knew thousands of employees York City, use of a private jet, a leased echoed comments from ECB to succeed Welch. literary magazine that he wanted to sorted GE’s divisions into “winners” — by name and would send handwritten Mercedes-Benz, restaurant and laun- President Christine Lagarde that Welch’s legacy was dented in retire- “make a million.” those fi rst or second in their industries notes to voice his approval or dissatis- dry expenses, country-club fees and no monetary-policy response ment, as GE’s stock lost a third of its Welch’s mother infused him with — and “losers,” mostly older units that faction. “He had tremendous, tremen- sports tickets. He later opted to pay for was needed for now. value within a year. The shares would self-confi dence and helped him over- had to improve or face disposal. dous passion for the business, but he some perks himself. Elliott is said to seek to replace Twitter CEO Dorsey

Bloomberg Twitter about its concerns privately Dorsey is one of the only people Since Dorsey returned as CEO in July New York and has had constructive discussions to serve as CEO of two large public 2015, the company’s shares have fallen with it since then, the people said. companies at the same time — he also 6.2%, while Facebook’s have gained Representatives for Elliott and Twitter runs Square Inc. That makes him a more than 121% during that time. Activist investor Elliott Management declined to comment. potential target for criticism whenever The stock declined more than 20% Corp has taken a sizeable stake in Elliott’s push comes at a pivotal time Twitter stumbles. He has also said he on October 24 after the company Twitter Inc and plans to push for with the US election, Summer Olympics plans to work up to six months a year delivered third-quarter results that changes at the social media company, and other major events, like the spread in Africa. fell far short of analyst estimates. including replacing chief executive of the coronavirus, which tend to Elliott isn’t the only investor to voice Twitter also said at the time its privacy off icer Jack Dorsey, according to attract more users and advertisers to concerns about Dorsey and Twitter’s issues involving targeting data would people familiar with the matter. Twitter. governance. continue to weigh on its advertising The New York-based firm has The company has, however, fallen In December, Scott Galloway, a business. The company blamed “bugs” nominated four directors to Twitter’s behind on innovation, choosing to professor of marketing at New York in the way it targeted ads and shared board, said the people, who asked to focus on its core service while other University’s Stern School of Business, personal information for the miss. not be identified because the matter social media competitors like Snap penned a letter about his own concerns Elliott has a long history of agitating isn’t public. Inc and Instagram develop filters and as an investor in the company. for changes at some of the world’s There are only three seats becoming stories popular with their users. “To be clear, my primary objective is largest companies. This month, the available at this year’s annual meeting Twitter has been a potential target the replacement of CEO Jack Dorsey,” firm disclosed a stake in Japan’s but Elliott wanted to ensure that it for activist investors for years. The Galloway said in an open letter to the SoftBank Corp and said it planned to nominated enough directors to fill all company only has one class of stock, company’s executive chairman, Omid push for a larger share buyback and three seats or any other vacancies which means co-founder Dorsey Kordestani. “However, your firm’s governance changes at the firm’s that may arise, the people said. The doesn’t have voting control of the weapons of mass entrenchment include Vision Fund. exact size of Elliott’s stake couldn’t be company like Facebook Inc’s Mark a staggered board that may force Elliott has also pushed for changes Dorsey is one of the only people to serve as CEO of two large public companies determined. Zuckerberg or Snap co-founders Evan shareholders to seek to replace other at AT&T Inc, EBay Inc, Marathon at the same time — he also runs Square Inc. That makes him a potential target for Elliott approached San Francisco-based Spiegel and Bobby Murphy. directors, including yourself, first.” Petroleum Corp and Pernod Ricard SA. criticism whenever Twitter stumbles. Gulf Times Tuesday, March 3, 2020 19 BUSINESS Qatar-Turkey trade stands at over $2bn in 2019, says offi cial

By Peter Alagos Business Reporter

rade exchange between Qatar and Turkey stood Tat over $2bn in 2019, ac- Qatar Chamber director general Saleh bin Hamad al-Sharqi cording to fi gures provided by an speaking at the ‘3rd SMEs Conference’ in Doha yesterday. offi cial of the Turkish Exporters’ PICTURE: Noushad Thekkayil Assembly (TIM) during a busi- ness forum held in Doha yester- day. SMEs to help Qatar Bilateral trade volume be- tween Qatar and Turkey con- tinues to increase, said TIM diversify away from deputy general secretary A Eser Erginoglu during the event, which was held in the presence hydrocarbons, says of Burak Guresci, the commer- cial counsellor from the Turk- Chamber official ish embassy in Qatar, and Qatari Businessmen Association (QBA) board member Sheikh Faisal bin By Peter Alagos towards a viable economy Fahad al-Thani. Business Reporter that is not dependent on the “Both countries’ bilateral hydrocarbons sector anymore, trade volume saw a continuous and this is why SMEs play growth from $375mn in 2009 to Small and medium-sized a vital role in achieving the reach more than $2bn last year. enterprises (SMEs) play national goals of Qatar,” al- But there is still more room for an important role in Sharqi pointed out. further expansion of these fig- economic growth and in the According to al-Sharqi, Qatar ures,” Erginoglu pointed out. diversification strategy of ranked 22nd globally among She said Turkey’s top exports Qatar, Qatar Chamber director 137 countries in the 2018 to Qatar in 2019 include jew- general Saleh bin Hamad al- Global Entrepreneurship Index ellery amounting to $106mn, Sharqi said yesterday during Report. Also, Qatar was among aeroplanes ($101mn), and iron Off icials from Qatari and Turkish companies holding B2B meetings during a business forum held in Doha yesterday. the ‘3rd SMEs Conference’, the top 20 nations in World and steel ($27mn), while major PICTURE: Nasar K Moidheen which concludes today. Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business imports from Qatar comprise Al-Sharqi, who thanked 2020’ list,’ he said. of aluminium alloys ($172mn), completed by Turkish contrac- 34 companies from various in- of Turkish exporters, which rep- menswear, womenswear, con- the Ministry of Commerce Al-Sharqi stressed that SMEs polyethylene ($55mn), and tors in the Qatari market ex- dustries. resents nearly 100,000 export- struction and building materi- and Industry, the British and entrepreneurs played medium oils and preparations ceeded $10bn. One-to-one meetings be- ers and 27 diff erent industries in als, machinery and industrial Embassy in Qatar, and Qatar a significant role during the ($11mn). The forum and B2B meet- tween Turkish and Qatari com- Turkey. supplies, engineering products Development Bank (QDB), June 2017 economic blockade, Erginoglu noted that Qatar ings yesterday gathered some panies are expected to fur- The participating Turkish and services, food and bever- underscored the role and citing eff orts exerted by the and Turkey share signifi cant co- 150 Qatari companies, and over ther increase bilateral trade companies represent the fol- age, agricultural products, au- importance of SMEs in the state to develop the national operation in construction in- 500 B2B meetings were con- between Turkey and Qatar, lowing products and services tomotive, armoured vehicles, development and growth industry, to accelerate dustry. She said total cumulative ducted. The Turkish delegation noted Erginoglu, who added that — consumer products, fur- lubricants, and automobile of the economy saying, procedures, and to achieve the value of construction projects led by Erginoglu comprised of TIM is the umbrella organisation niture, home textile, apparel, care products. the sector contributes to self-suff iciency. productivity and generates At the onset of the blockade, job opportunities, which helps al-Sharqi said Qatar Chamber curb unemployment and focused on local industries poverty. and the private sector, Hyundai Motor appoints Citing statistics from the World facilitating procedures for Trade Organisation (WTO), business owners to expedite Bang Sun Jeong as new al-Sharqi said that around 95% their work and help them of projects around the world face the challenges of the come from SMEs. Also, he said economic blockade imposed vice president for MEA SMEs contribute 45% to the against Qatar. global GDP. “This conference is also a good Hyundai Motor Company, whose the executive director – sales and He said the government opportunity to talk about the off icial partner here is Skyline marketing role for Hyundai Motor has put a premium in the pioneering experiences, such Automotive, has appointed India. He also held positions in development of the country’s as those in the UK, which has Bang Sun Jeong as the new vice Poland and Turkey. SME sector because of its close and distinguished bonds president of the Middle East and “As the vice president of MEA important role in keeping pace with Qatar,” al-Sharqi stressed. Africa (MEA) region. at such an important phase, with new economic policies He noted that the conference Jeong, who replaces Mike Song, I am compelled by a strong and global challenges, as well represented “an ideal will oversee the day-to-day responsibility to confront as its significance in realising opportunity” for identifying operations and will be responsible the challenges ahead of us. It the objectives of the Qatar means of developing and for strengthening Hyundai’s is essential we build on this National Vision 2030. promoting SMEs by reviewing presence and brand value across success in 2020 and I forward “The direction taken by the leading British expertise in the MEA region. to helping sustain our growth government is also part of this field, even as he aff irmed In his previous role, he had served momentum to reach our best the ambitious plan to have that Qatar and the UK “enjoy as Hyundai’s vice president of Asia sales record and in doing so, we more and diff erent sources distinguished co-operation Pacific, Africa and Middle East hope to set a new milestone in of income, and take steps relations at all aspects.” Operations Division and also held our journey,” Jeong said. Jeong: Huge responsibility.

Gilead to buy Forty Seven Nokia’s new chairman picks close for $4.9bn for cancer drug Bloomberg has potential to be the first in its Paris class, said chief executive off icer Daniel O’Day. ally to put it back in the 5G game O’Day took the reins last March, Gilead Sciences Inc agreed to saying one of his top priorities buy Forty Seven Inc for about was to bolster Gilead’s drug Bloomberg business,” Mikael Rautanen, an analyst at when it transformed itself from an un- $4.9bn to advance into one of pipeline. Stockholm Finnish brokerage Inderes, wrote in a note. wieldy conglomerate into a global leader the hottest areas of pharmaceu- Menlo Park, California-based Nokia shares rose as much as 4.9% on in mobile phones and network equipment. tical research: cancer treatments Forty Seven received interest Monday before falling back to trade up Baldauf, who succeeds Siilasmaa as that harness the immune system from other potential suitors, okia Oyj’s next chairman, Sari 0.2% as of 1:49pm in Helsinki. chairman next month, was Lundmark’s to fight tumours. Bloomberg reported last week, Baldauf, is getting a headstart by Huawei has sucked business opportu- boss through much of that period, and Gilead will acquire Forty Seven citing people familiar with the Nchoosing a combative dealmaker nities away from Nokia and Ericsson and later recruited him to Fortum from for $95.50 per share in cash company. The agreed price for to put the network equipment maker back concerns that the Beijing government Konecranes Oyj. in a transaction cleared by the Gilead takeover includes in the race for 5G networks. could use the Chinese vendor’s equipment “I wasn’t really planning on leaving, but both boards, the Forster City, options and warrants. Fortum Oyj CEO Pekka Lundmark, who for spying have yet to bring a dividend for then Sari Baldauf called,” Lundmark told California-based company said The company’s experimental will replace Rajeev Suri in September, is a its two rivals. Finnish public broadcaster Yle in Decem- in a statement on Monday. The medicine, called magrolimab, long-term Baldauf ally who is riding high Under Suri, Nokia went all-in on a ber, explaining his decision to leave the price is a 96% premium to For- is a monoclonal antibody in after winning a long, politically-sensitive strategy to broaden its portfolio so it could crane maker. “After ten years it may be ty Seven’s closing price Thurs- early studies for several cancers battle for control of German energy com- provide a full suite of products and servic- good for a company, as well as the CEO, to day, before Bloomberg News aff ecting the blood and lymph pany Uniper SE. es for operators who are building new net- have someone else take over and bring in broke the news of Gilead’s nodes, including acute myeloid Lundmark will need more of that stay- works. The approach is being sorely tested fresh ideas.” approach. Forty Seven’s shares leukaemia and diff use large ing power to dig Nokia out of the worst during the fi rst wave of 5G rollouts, where Lundmark’s Uniper victory cost the Ger- rose 61% to $93.51 in trading B-cell lymphoma. crisis since the collapse of its wireless the focus is on replacing base stations and man company’s CEO and chief fi nancial of- before the market opened in The therapy targets a “do-not- handset business a decade ago. The Finn- Lundmark: Long-term ally. radio access networks. fi cer their jobs. While he insisted that he’d New York. eat-me” signal that allows cancer ish company is falling behind Chinese rival After a shock profi t warning last year, wanted a friendly partnership with Uniper, Gilead’s hepatitis C franchise cells to avoid destruction. The Huawei Technologies Co in the battle to unprofi table contracts and investing in the Nokia is now exploring options ranging the executive teams fell out in a spectacular turned the company into a drug blocks the signal, allowing dominate 5G rollouts and its shares have company’s core products. from asset sales to mergers, people famil- fashion in one of Europe’s most acrimoni- pharma industry giant, but sales the patient’s own immune sys- lost a third of their value in a year. Lundmark and Ekholm are the same age, iar with the matter said last week. Chair- ous energy takeovers in years. of the drugs have slipped from tem to engulf and eradicate the Baldauf is following the playbook of 57, and are both trained engineers. Ekholm man Risto Siilasmaa said on Monday that The wisdom of the move on Uniper is their peak and it has struggled malignant cells. Nokia’s Swedish arch-rival Ericsson AB, has been rewarded with a 44% share price no strategic actions are underway and that still to be seen: The deal plays to Fortum’s to find new streams of revenue. Forty Seven also has two experi- which also appointed a corporate vet- gain since he started the job in January 2017. Lundmark will get a chance to make any strength in generating power from hydro The deal with Forty Seven mental medicines that may soon eran from its home country to take a fresh ”We expect Nokia to introduce large adjustments he sees fi t after he starts work and nuclear plants in Northern Europe, complements the 2017 acquisi- enter clinical tests, including look at a faltering business. The move has structural reforms and austerity measures in September. while throwing it into the bear pit that is tion of Kite Pharma, bringing an antibody that could be com- paid off after CEO Borje Ekholm simpli- under its new management in order to lay Lundmark got his fi rst training in busi- the German energy market and the coun- an experimental therapy that bined with magrolimab. fi ed Ericsson by selling some units, exiting the foundations for a healthy long-term ness leadership at Nokia during the 1990s, try’s politically-charged exit from coal. Tuesday, March 3, 2020 GULF TIMES BUSINESS

Al-Kaabi and al-Sulaiti meet Georgia’s minister of economy, sustainable development

HE the Minister of Transport and Communications Jassim Seif Ahmed al-Sulaiti yesterday met Georgia’s Minister of Economy and HE the Minister of State for Energy Aff airs, Saad bin Sherida al-Kaabi held talks in Doha yesterday with Sustainable Development Natela Turnava. The two ministers discussed aspects of co-operation in transportation, ports and communications Natela Turnava, Georgia’s Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, and the accompanying and means of further enhancing them. They also discussed the investment opportunities available in these fields, in addition to boosting delegation. Discussions during the meeting dealt with co-operation between the two countries in the co-operation on Black Sea Express Service, which connects harbours among Greece, Turkey, Georgia and Russia. Moreover, the two off icials energy field and means to enhance it. discussed several matters of common interest between the two friendly countries.

‘SME sector is key driver of Qatar’s economic diversification’

By Peter Alagos many laws, including one that Business Reporter allows foreign investors to own 100% in various sectors,” said al-Khulaifi, who also praised the The small and medium-sized “robust Qatar-UK relations.” enterprise (SME) sector is a key According to al-Khulaifi, Qatar- driver of the state’s economic UK relations formed an impetus diversification, and a tool to for the conference to shed the QBA and Georgian off icials after their meeting to explore ways of enhancing co-operation in Doha yesterday. promote the country’s industrial light on British expertise in SMEs and productive potential in line sector. He also lauded Qatar with Qatar National Vision 2030, Chamber’s role in organising said acting undersecretary for events that support the private Trade Aff airs at the Ministry of sector and enhance its contribu- Commerce and Industry Saleh tion in the economic process of bin Majid al-Khulaifi. the country. During the conference, Qatar, Georgia explore ways experts and govern- ment off icials gathered during three panel dis- cussions, which delved on the following topics – ‘Law & Investment’, to enhance economic and ‘Sports & Tourism’, and ‘Connected Qatar’. ‘Law & Investment’ provided an overview of the SME sector in the UK and Qatar, and investment co-operation included discussions on the rules and regula- eorgia and Qatar yesterday ex- invest in Georgia, a country at the inter- The QBA was represented by HE in its hospitality and tourism sectors, tions surrounding plored ways of creating a work- section of Europe and Asia. Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim al-Thani, its where the country has a lot of histori- business in the UK, the Ging group at the ministerial level This was discussed at the meeting of chairman, and also members Sheikh cal and tourism elements that make it an implications of Brexit to to further facilitate the entry of Qatari Natella Turnava, Minister of Economy Faisal bin Fahad al-Thani, Faisal al-Ma- important centre for foreign tourists and Al-Khulaifi addressing the two-day ‘3rd the UK market, as well businessmen in the Georgian market. and Sustainable Development of Geor- na, Maqbool Khalfan, Ihsan al-Khiaymi resulted in hosting about 3.4mn visitors SMEs Conference’ organised by Qatar as the current business This comes as part of eff orts to enhance gia, and her accompanying delegation, and Mohamed Althaf as well as QBA in 2019. Chamber and the British Embassy in opportunities in the UK economic and investment co-operation with the Qatari Businessmen Association deputy general manager Sarah Abdul- She specifically indicated a project Qatar, in Doha yesterday. for Qatari business and between the two countries, especially (QBA). lah. for a huge commercial shopping centre PICTURE: Noushad Thekkayil vice versa. with Doha expressing keen interest in the From the Georgian side, the meet- Apart from the farm sector, Sheikh located in the heart of the capital, of- The discussion also agriculture sector. ing was also attended by Genadi Arve- Faisal also talked about the potential for fered for investment by the private sec- He was addressing the two-day touched on the UK and Qatar The working group is being explored ladze Deputy Minister of Economy and tourism and real estate investment in tor, where the state is privatising some ‘3rd SMEs Conference’ organised business and regulatory envi- to be established within the Ministry of Sustainable Development of Georgia Georgia. public facilities such as touristic and by Qatar Chamber and the Brit- ronment, including tax regula- Economy in Tbilisi in view of the growing and Nikoloz Revazishvili, ambassador of Turnava highlighted that Georgia is medical resorts and wellness and health ish Embassy in Qatar yesterday. tions, talent, and why the UK and interest of the private sector from Qatar to Georgia to Doha. interested in attracting more investors centres. Al-Khulaifi said the state has Qatar are both ideal investment accelerated the development of destinations and great places for the SME vital sector by imple- SMEs to develop. menting “stimulating legislative ‘Sports & Tourism’ discussed and administrative frameworks.” the opportunities for SMEs Qatar and Uruguay sign ‘open skies air services agreement’ He said the government also within the sports economy and launched national initiatives tourism sectors in Qatar. It also HE the Minister of Transport and programmes that support covered the future of Qatar’s and Communications Jassim entrepreneurs and SMEs. Eff orts sports sector up to and after the Seif Ahmed al-Sulaiti yesterday were also made to make their 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar and attended the “fi nal signing” products and services competi- its legacy. It also highlighted the of an ‘open skies air services tive in the local market, as well experience of the UK after host- agreement’ between Qatar as initiatives to support their ing the Olympic Games in 2012 and Uruguay. “The agreement export capacities at the regional and transforming the sports comes within the framework of and global levels. infrastructure into a legacy for connecting Qatar with more air “Recently, the Ministry of all, as well as how SMEs can services agreements, permitting Commerce and Industry, in co- help deliver Qatar’s tourism its national carrier, Qatar Airways, operation with Qatar Develop- strategy. to expand its destinations all ment Bank (QDB), has launched The third session, ‘Connected around the world,” the Ministry of the ‘Land and Industrial Loan’ Qatar’, explored opportunities Transport and Communications initiative to provide support for that exist in Qatar for SMEs, said. The agreement was signed Qatari investors and encourage including an overview of the by Qatar Civil Aviation Authority entrepreneurs and SMEs to eas- country’s tech scene, connectiv- (CAA) chairman Abdulla bin ily invest in the industrial sector. ity, and the ‘#Tasmu’ programme Nasser Turki al-Subaey and To build an open economy, the led by the Ministry of Transport Uruguay’s ambassador Sere Jorge country issued and updated and Communications. Antonio. Masraf Al Rayan subsidiary to establish digital bank in Astana International Financial Centre

The AIFC and Al Rayan Investment (ARI) “We believe Al Rayan Bank will sig- which off ers considerable potential; while l Rayan Investment (a wholly are in the process of signing a Memorandum nifi cantly contribute to the development AIFC represents the optimal platform for owned subsidiary of Masraf Al of Understanding (MoU) that establishes of the Islamic fi nance industry in Kaza- us as it is established on the same interna- ARayan) is working on the require- the framework for co-operation during the khstan as well as the region and promote tional best practice regulatory principles ments of authorising a new bank with an licensing process in the coming months. AIFC as the international Islamic fi nance as our home domicile, the Qatar Financial expected paid-up capital of $10mn and an Dr Kairat Kelimbetov, governor, AIFC hub”. Centre. This should expedite our ability to authorised capital of $20mn. said, “We welcome the decision of Al Ray- Adel Mustafawi, Group chief executive off er our world-class products and serv- The new bank is intended to be the fi rst an Investment to establish a fi ntech bank offi cer, Masraf Al Rayan said, “Al Rayan ices in such a promising market.” full-fl edged digital bank in AIFC that in AIFC. The presence of such a reputable Investment has chosen Kazakhstan and ARI off ers asset management and in- will focus on the development of Islamic and well-known fi nancial institution in particularly the AIFC, as the fi rst market vestment banking services. Investment Masraf Al Rayan building in Doha. The new bank is intended to be the banking products and investments fa- AIFC demonstrates the trust of the in- for international expansion for Al Rayan banking services focus on corporate ad- first full-fledged digital bank in AIFC that will focus on the development cilitated by the application of cutting edge ternational business community in our Investment. Kazakhstan represents a new visory, mergers and acquisitions and the of Islamic banking products and investments facilitated by the fi ntech products. fi nancial centre. hub for Islamic fi nance in Central Asia, issuance of public debt and equity. application of cutting edge fintech products.