DAILY MARKET REPORT

‏20-05-2014

INTERNATIONAL MARKETS

Index Last Change DJIA 16,511.86 20.55 S&P 500 1,885.08 7.22 NASDAQ 4125.815 35.23 NIKKEI 14,118.63 112.19 HANG SENG 22,867.84 163.34 DJ EURSTOXX 50 3,169.90 2.82 FTSE 100 6,844.55 11.26 CAC 40 4,469.76 13.48 DAXX 9,659.39 30.29

 US  Stocks end higher in choppy trading; Internet stocks boost Nasdaq  AT&T Joins U.S. TV Revamp With $48.5 Billion DirecTV Deal  Siemens to make formal Alstom bid as early as this week

Stocks eked out gains after hovering around the flatline for much of the session Monday, as investors remained cautious amid recent mixed economic reports. The Nasdaq rallied, thanks to a strong performance in Internet stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 20.55 points, to finish at 16,511.86. JPMorgan and Merck led the blue-chip gainers. The S&P 500 climbed 7.22 points, to end at 1,885.08. And the Nasdaq rallied 35.23 points, to close at 4,125.82. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, traded near 12. The small-cap Russell 2000 index led the rally. Internet companies such as Zillow, Pandora, Yelp, and LinkedIn were up more than 3 percent each. Merger and acquisition news remained in focus. Pfizer climbed after U.K. rival AstraZeneca rejected a sweetened takeover bid. Shares of AstraZeneca tumbled more than 10 percent. Meanwhile, shares of AT&T slumped after the telecom company launched a $48.5 billion bid for satellite TV operator DirecTV on Sunday. General Electric traded flat despite reports that Germany's Siemens could make a rival bid for Alstom's power business as early as this week. General Electric has already submitted a 12.35 billion euro ($16.9 billion) bid, but Alstom has opened its books to Siemens sunder strong political pressure from the French government. Campbell Soup dropped sharply after the canned soup maker reported weaker-than-expected quarterly sales and lowered its full-year revenue growth forecast. Apparel retailer Urban Outfitters is scheduled to post earnings after the closing bell. Home Depot, TJX, Lowe's, Target and Hewlett-Packard are among notable earnings slated to post results throughout the week

 EUROPE & UK  European stock markets hit by AstraZeneca and Dt Bank  FTSEurofirst 300 at lowest level in around 2 weeks  Europe set for cautious trade; ECB policy, elections eyed  AstraZeneca rejects Pfizer's 'final' bid

European equities slid on Monday, pulled down by pharmaceuticals group AstraZeneca, which slumped after rejecting a Pfizer takeover bid, and by Deutsche Bank, where a capital increase weighed on bank stocks. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index, which last week hit a 6-year high of 1,372.81 points, fell 0.9 percent to 1,349.79 points in mid- session trading - its lowest level in around two weeks. The euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index also fell 1 percent to 3,140.41 points. AstraZeneca's shares dropped 12 percent to take the most points off the FTSEurofirst 300, after it rejected a sweetened "final" cash-and-stock offer from Pfizer, causing uncertainty as to whether the U.S. drugmaker would pull off its plan to create the world's biggest pharmaceuticals group. European shares are set for another cautious start on Tuesday as investors continue to consider stock valuations, the possibility of policy action from the European Central Bank (ECB) and upcoming elections. According to IG, the FTSE is called up 6 points at 6,850, the German Dax is seen higher by 3 points at 9,662 and the French CAC is seen down 6 points at 4,463.European bourses have seen little reason to rally in the last week with a macroeconomic picture of uncertainty causing investors to shun riskier assets. As well as European Parliament elections this coming weekend, traders are also focused on what stimulus measures the ECB might announce at its next meeting as well as contemplating the recent run up in stock markets. On the data front, German producer price data for April is released at 7:00 a.m. London time. In the U.K. April inflation figures are due at 9:30 a.m. London time as well as an April house price index from the Office for National Statistics. In corporate earnings, U.K. retailer Marks and Spencer releases its full-year results on Tuesday as well as telecoms company Vodafone.

 ASIA  Asia shares up, but Thailand drops 1% after martial law declared  Yahoo Japan Jumps After Scrapping Deal for EAccess With SoftBank

Asian equity markets were mostly higher on Tuesday, but the mood was cautious amid developments in Thailand and as the Bank of Japan's two-day policy meeting commenced. Meanwhile, the Japanese central bank is widely expected to keep policy unchanged when it announces a decision on Wednesday. Thai shares sank 1 percent to a one-week low while the baht fell 0.2 percent against the dollar. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite lost 2 percent on uncertainty over July's elections while Indian shares bucked the trend to gain 0.6 percent on hopes that the country's new prime minister will boost economic growth. Japanese shares snapped their four-day losing streak on a slightly weaker currency, helping the benchmark Nikkei move off the previous day's one-month low. The yen traded around 101.5 per dollar, moving off the previous day's three-and-a-half month high of 101.1. Yahoo Japan surged 10 percent after saying on Monday that it has decided against buying Softbank's mobile telecoms provider, eAccess, for $4.4 billion due to the extent of challenges involved in operating its own network. Seven & I and Fast Retailing rose nearly 2 percent each. Mainland shares rose 0.2 percent, rebounding from the previous day's two-month low, after the country's cabinet approved detailed economic reform

plans to be implemented this year. Furthermore, the country's securities regulators confirmed that there would be only a 100 new market listings from June to the end of this year, which eased concerns of a supply glut. Financials were among the top gainers with China Life and New China Life Insurance 1 percent higher. Meanwhile, Hong Kong shares jumped 0.7 percent, ending two days of declines. Australia's benchmark S&P ASX 200 index bounced between gains and losses in choppy trade after hitting a new one-month low earlier in the session. The index entered positive territory after the Reserve Bank of Australia said low interest rates were having a desired effect on the economy in minutes from its latest meeting. Among blue-chips, Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors declined more than 1 percent each.

Economic Release

 EUR

Event Previous Forecast

German PPI MoM -0.3% 0.0% German PPI MoM -0.9% -0.9%

 UK Event Previous Forecast

CPI MoM 0.2% 0.3% CPI YoY 1.6% 1.7% Retail Price Index 254.8 256.1 RPI MoM 0.2% 0.55 PPI Output NSA MoM 0.2% 0.2% PPI Output NSA YoY 0.55 0.7%

DOMESTIC MARKET

Stocks Last Close Change Volume SOLIDERE A 13.49 13.49 0.01 2530 SOLIDERE B 13.45 13.2 0.25 12215 SOLIDERE GDR 13.49 13.08 0.41 31844 HOLCIM 14.8 14.8 0.00 0 BLOM GDR 9.3 9.21 0.09 1200 BLOM BANK 8.77 8.7 0.80 13742 AUDI GDR 6.4 6.315 0.09 40000 AUDI SARADAR 6.1 6.09 0.16 4670 BYBLOS GDR 73 73 0.00 0 BYBLOS BANK 1.55 1.55 0.05 8000

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

FX Rates Spot NY Closing EUR 1.3700 1.3709 GBP 1.6808 1.6814 AUD 0.9272 0.9330 JPY 101.46 101.50 CHF 0.8930 0.8923 CAD 1.0879 1.0875 AMD 413.2600 413.2600 RUB 34.5449 34.5447 Commodities Spot Closing GOLD 1290.55 1293.07 SILVER 19.371 19.36 CRUDE OIL 102.73 102.61

Market Summary

Commodities

Brent steady above $109 on Libya unrest; US crude stocks seen rising Brent crude held steady above $109 a barrel on Tuesday, as unrest and low output in OPEC-producer Libya offset expectations of a build in weekly U.S. crude stocks to a record high. Libyan oil output was capped at 210,000 barrels per day (bpd), far below the 1.4 million bpd produced through mid-2013, with major western oilfields, El Sharara and El Feel, still shut a week after the government said it reached a deal with protesters to reopen them. French oil major Total said on Monday it cut its presence in capital Tripoli to a minimum over security concerns, while Algerian state energy firm Sonatrach is evacuating workers from the country, following clashes in Libya over the weekend. U.S. crude for June delivery was 10 cents higher at $102.71 a barrel. The contract, which closed 59 cents up, expires on Tuesday. That would take crude inventories to a new record after inventories hit 399.4 million barrels in the week to April 25, the highest since the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration (EIA) began collecting data in 1982. The poll was taken ahead of weekly inventory reports due later on Tuesday from industry group the American Petroleum Institute (API) and on Wednesday from the EIA.

Platinum extends gains on South African strikes; gold firm Platinum gained for a second straight session on Tuesday as labor strikes in top producer South Africa continued for a 17th week, disrupting supply of about 40 percent of the metal's global output. Gold held below $1,300 an ounce as a lack of major economic data and no significant developments in the Ukraine crisis kept investor interest muted. Spot gold was steady at $1,293.40 an ounce by 0313 GMT. Platinum rose 0.3 percent to $1,468.00 after rising 0.5 percent in the previous session. Last week, platinum posted its strongest weekly performance in six, along with palladium. Despite the recent price gains, platinum's performance during the long strike has been uninspired. South Africa's longest and costliest mining strike turned violent this month, with four miners killed as more employees tried to report for work at the world's top platinum producers, ignoring calls by the union to continue protesting. The four-month-long strike against Anglo American Platinum, Impala Platinum and Lonmin, could cost 1 million ounces of production this year. While platinum finally broke upwards last week, reaching levels not seen since early March, it is still only about $30 an ounce higher than it was immediately before the strike. Investors are watching for clear developments in Ukraine and decisions by the European Central Bank regarding stimulus policies for cues on price direction.

FX

Pound Falls Versus Euro as Carney Warns of Housing Risks

The pound fell against the euro for the first time in three days after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said surging house prices posted the biggest risk to the U.K. economy. The yen reached a three-month high against the dollar as concern global economic growth remains sluggish prompted demand for haven assets. Japan’s currency was little changed as global foreign exchange market volatility slowed to almost the lowest level since 2007. India’s rupee climbed to an 11- month high versus the dollar as the clearest election results in three decades boosted investor confidence in the nation.

Sweden’s krona weakened to a four-week low versus the dollar as unemployment rose in April. Australia’s dollar fell against all 16 major counterparts as the central bank signaled it was likely to maintain record-low interest rates. The Aussie touched a two-week low after the Reserve Bank predicted protracted spare capacity in labor markets in the minutes of its May meeting. The euro held near a three-month low versus the yen before European Central Bank officials speak at a conference in Frankfurt, amid speculation they will ease monetary policy next month. The Bank of Japan begins a two-day meeting today. The Thai baht fell the most in two months after the army imposed martial law.

Technical FX

EURUSD Support is at 1.3648, a break below would open the way to 1.3549. Resistance is at 1.3780 ahead of 1.3821 USDJPY First resistance is at 101.83, a break above this would open 102.29. Support is at 101.01 ahead of 100.76. GBPUSD The pair has been correcting over the past two weeks this stalled just above key support at 1.6725. Resistance is at 1.6864 USDCHF Potential for upside move brings our focus to resistance at 0.8981. The important support at 0.8699 AUDUSD With a bullish trend intact there’s scope for further upside to test resistance at 0.9409 ahead of 0.9461. Support is at 0.9243. USDCAD As bearish trend persists; the downside will find support is at 1.0814, a break below would extend the downtrend to 1.0731. EURCHF The directional risk is skewed to the upside towards 1.2250 ahead of 1.2285. Immediate support is at 1.2191. EURGBP Support is at 0.8082 ahead of 0.7960 . First resistance is at 0.8184 EURJPY Weakness in the pair has seen test of key support at 138.79, a break below would see a decline towards 136.23. Resistance is at 140.95

This report is published for information purposes only. The information herein has been compiled from, or based upon sources we believe to be reliable, but we do not guarantee or accept responsibility for its completeness and accuracy. This document should not be construed as a solicitation to take part in any investment, or as constituting any representation or warranty on our part. The consequences of any action taken on the basis of information contained herein are solely the responsibility of the recipient.

Creditbank - Treasury and Capital Markets Tel & Fax: +961 1 485 265 / 269