WEDNESDAY 6 JANUARY 2021

QSE FTSE 100 DOW BRENT6,612.25 +40.37 (0.61%) 30,475.08 +251.19 (0.83%) $53.83 (+2.72) 10,618.39 +141.27 (1.35%)

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Shares surge amid healing of GCC rift SACHIN KUMARTHE PENINSULA

Qatar’s stock market celebrated the news of agreement between Qatar and Saudi Arabia to open airspace, land and sea borders as shares witnessed a sharp surge yesterday. The Qatar Stock Exchange (QE) Index jumped 141 points or 1.35 percent to close at 10,618.39 points, yesterday.

The rally in the bourse was comprehensive as all the sec-toral indices ended in the green.

Foreign Minister of the State of Kuwait, H E Sheikh Dr. Ahmed Nasser Al Mohammad Al Sabah announced on Monday night that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the State of Qatar reached an agreement to open airspace as well as land and sea border starting tonight.

Investors were ready for the trade as soon as the market began. Within a few minutes of opening of the market, the index surged from 10,477 points to 10,664 points, which was the highest level of the day. The investors and traders kept a

close watch on news relating to the 41st session of the Supreme Council of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), held yesterday at which was held at Maraya Center in Al-Ula governorate in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

After the initial trade, the rally took a breather and the index came down and hovered at 10560- 10580 level for a while. However, the market again regained its momentum and index shot up to 10626 points and closed the day at 10,618.39 points.

Among the indices, QSE Total Return Index increased 1.35 percent to close at 20,413.51 points and QSE Al Rayan

Islamic Index gained 0.79 percent to finish the day at 4,323.12 points. QSE All Share Index went up 1.34 percent to close at 3,259.93 points.

In yesterday’s trade, the volume of shares traded increased to 370.3 million from 105.27 million and the value of

shares increased to QR646.27m from QR245.60m. Top gainers were Qatar Gas Transport Company (Nakilat) and Qatar Insurance which surged 3.5 percent and 2.9 percent, respec-tively. Among the top losers, Qatar Cinema & Film Distributing fell 8 percent, while Qatar

General Insurance & Reinsurance Company was down 3.7 percent.

Qatar’s stock market has shown resilience in 2020. The QE Index had surged around 2,375 points or 29 percent since March when it had declined to 8,160 points, which was the lowest point of the year.

Normalisation of relations will help Qatar’s non-oil economyTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Normalisation of relations between Qatar and its neigh-bours, signaled by the imminent reopening of borders with Saudi Arabia, will help Qatar’s non-oil economy.

However high public sector debt will remain a drag on the country’s ‘AA-’/Stable sovereign rating, said Kris-janis Krustins, Director, Sov-ereign Ratings, Fitch Ratings.

A resumption of travel links will eventually lift tourism inflows, and greater interest from regional buyers could support the real estate market.

“Qatar will post a roughly balanced budget in 2020, i n c l u d i n g e s t i m a t e d investment income from QIA assets. The 2021 budget plans for a deficit of 6 percent of GDP excluding investment income, at an oil price of $40/bbl. We see this as broadly realistic,”

“We expect Qatar’s general government debt-to-GDP ratio to hit 76 percent in 2020, up from 60 percent in 2017,”

said KrustinsEarlier in report issued last

month, Fitch Ratings had said that improved regional rela-tions would bolster prospects for Qatar’s non-oil economy over the medium term, once the impact of the coronavirus pandemic fades. A resumption of travel links could even-tually lift tourism inflows, and greater interest from buyers elsewhere in the region could buoy the local real-estate market.

A reassessment of the geopolitical risks facing Qatar was one of the factors that led us to downgrade its rating to ‘AA-’ from ‘AA’ in August 2017. “Moreover, when we affirmed the rating, with a Stable Outlook, in June 2020 we identified a structural reduction of geopolitical risks, combined with other factors, as a potential positive rating driver,” noted the report.

The banking sector, with assets worth over 200% of GDP, is an integral part of Qatar’s economic model, and the sovereign has an extensive record of supporting it. �P2

QIB financial literacy programreaches over 500 studentsTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), the largest private bank in Qatar, has announced the successful conclusion of its innovative financial literacy program ‘How Money Works?’ for the first semester of the 2020/2021 academic year.

Developed by QIB in collab-oration with INJAZ Qatar, the program graduated 515 sec-ondary school and university stu-dents from more than 70 insti-tutions in Qatar. This semester, the program was held in three sessions with record attendance seen across the program. The number of students who bene-fitted from the program since launched in 2018 has reached over 1300.

For the first time since its launch in 2018, the program was carried out exclusively dig-itally, utilising new teaching methods, and guaranteeing more flexibility and easier access for all students.

Tutored by QIB volunteers Louai Ayad, Hani Ali and Ahmed Aizeldin, the sessions

were held virtually in Sep-tember and October 2020. All sessions were tailored to introduce secondary and first year university students to best practices related to earning money, budgeting, expenditure planning, saving and investment, in addition to banking security standards and personal finance protection.

Commenting on the suc-cessful conclusion of the Pro-gram’s first semester, Mashaal Abdulaziz Al Derham, Assistant General Manager and Head of Corporate Communications & Quality Assurance at QIB, said: “We are happy to see such unprecedented demand and interest in our innovative financial literacy program" �P2.

QIB volunteers with the students during one of the program’s virtual training on financial literacy in Doha.

Turkey’s exports top $169.5bn in 2020QNA — ANKARA

Turkish Minister of Trade Ruhsar Pekcan announced yesterday that Turkey exports reached $169.5bn in 2020.

During a year-end foreign trade evaluation meeting in Ankara, Pekcan stated that Turkish exports broke a record in the last quarter of 2020, reaching $51.2bn.

In December, Turkey recorded all-time high monthly export figure of $17.8bn, up 16 percent year-on-year, she added.

Qatari talent recognised at Huawei Middle East ICT Competition 2020THE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar’s team which comprised of three students has won the ‘Outstanding Performance’ award at the Huawei Middle East ICT Competition 2020, the largest competition for students and universities in the Middle East which has just concluded recently. Qatar University also won the ‘Excellent Academy’ award at the event.

Winners of the annual program were announced following several months of national and regional com-petitions between some of the region’s brightest young minds and leading aca-demic institutions. Held virtually this year in respect of social distancing measures, the finals saw 13 teams of talented students compete from 10 countries, with Qatar’s team claiming

the ‘Outstanding Performance’ award. The annual competition sees

Huawei and various partners in gov-ernment and academia contribute

towards the development of ICT talent ecosystems, nurturing young talent while also fostering an innovation mindset amongst the next generation of ICT leaders.

In 2020, the competition witnessed the participation of 20 ministries and government authorities, and received 15,000 entries from 440 local colleges and universities in 10 Middle East countries.

This year, Qatar’s team which com-prised of three students including Maria Rauf Mahsood, Zainab Ameema and Khamarunnisa Pazhayakath, claimed the ‘Outstanding Performance’ award, while Qatar University won the ‘Excellent Academy’ award. All winning teams received special certificates and trophies presented virtually by local Huawei representatives.

Charles Yang, President of Huawei Middle East, said: “On behalf of Huawei, I offer hearty congratulations to our winners and everyone who par-ticipated in this year’s competition. This has been an exceptional year in many ways, but it has also never been a more important time to support young people in developing their talent and creativity with cutting-edge tech-nology. Today ICT are the building blocks of an intelligent society. By taking advantage of global knowledge and best practices through these com-petitions, we are able to bridge the gap between the classroom and the work-place, increasing national ICT compet-itiveness while encouraging local com-munities to contribute to national visions for digital transformation and socio-economic development.” �P2

Qatar’s team during the Huawei’s ICT Competition 2020 Regional Finals.

Performance of QE Index in the past five trading sessions

The Qatar Stock Exchange (QE) Index jumped 1.35 percent to close at 10,618.39 points, yesterday. The rally in the bourse was comprehensive as all the sectoral indices ended in the green.

US factory activity rises in DecemberBLOOMBERG

A measure of US manufac-turing expanded in December at the fastest pace in more than two years, bolstered by a pickup in new orders and the strongest growth in production since 2011.

A gauge of factory activity unexpectedly increased to 60.7 from 57.5 a month earlier, according to Institute for Supply Management data released yesterday. Readings above 50 indicate expansion and the figure exceeded all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

For months, the manufac-turing sector has been steadily recovering from the pan-demic’s devastating blow early last year. Though a full recovery will take time, the latest data underscore how a strengthening economy and lean inventories should con-tinue driving production and factory employment gains.

“Manufacturing has done well,” Timothy Fiore, chair of ISM’s Manufacturing Business Survey Committee, said on a call with reporters. “And Q1 looks good, but we are being impacted by the labor side simply because the quantity of infections and the quantity of people who are having to self quarantine or be sick is just so overwhelming that everybody has to be affected by it.”

Sixteen of 18 manufac-turing industries reported growth in December, led by apparel, furniture, wood products and fabricated metals.

02 WEDNESDAY 6 JANUARY 2021BUSINESS

BUSINESS BRIEFS

Apple Inc. led shares of the largest technology companies lower in the first trading day of the year, suffer-ing its worst decline in more than a month amid a broad market sell-off.Shares of the iPhone maker fell as much as 4.5 percent on Mon-day before recovering some of the losses to close down 2.5 percent at $129.41.

The decline was the biggest since Nov. 23. Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. both fell more than 2 percent, compared with a 1.5 percent decline in the S&P 500 Index. -BLOOMBERG

WASHINGTON: The global economy is starting 2021 in a better position than had been expected in 2020, but surging COVID-19 cases and new strains of the virus are cloud-ing the outlook and making for a “dark winter,” the International Mon-etary Fund’s chief economist said yesterday.“What is true as of now is that we’re starting out the year at a some-what stronger point than we had expected in 2020, which is a good thing” Gita Gopinath told CNBC. The IMF is expected to revise its Global Economic Outlook forecasts on Jan. 26. In October, it forecast a 4.4% global GDP contraction for 2020, followed by a rebound to growth of 5.2% for 2021. -REUTERS

NEW DELHI: The sales of OLED panels from Samsung Display is expected to cross $5bn in the first quarter of 2021.

According to a new report from market research firm Omdia, Sam-sung's sales for OLED panels will exceed $5.18bn in Q1 2021, thanks to an increase in adaptation of OLED screens. This marks a 30 percent increase compared to Q1 last year when company made $3.9bn in reve-nue out of OLED panels and new rise is backed by rise in the use of OLED panels in 5G smartphones. -IANS

Apple leads big tech slump with worst drop since November

IMF economist: Global economy starting 2021 stronger

Samsung Display’s OLED sales may cross $5bn in Q1, 2021

Global economy to expand4% in 2021: World BankREUTERS — WASHINGTON

The global economy is expected to expand 4 percent in 2021 after shrinking 4.3 percent in 2020, the World Bank said yesterday, although it warned that rising COVID-19 infections and delays in vaccine distri-bution could limit the recovery to just 1.6 percent this year.

The World Bank’s semi-annual forecast showed the col-lapse in activity due to the coro-navirus pandemic was slightly less severe than previously forecast, but the recovery was also more subdued and still subject to considerable downside risk.

“The near-term outlook remains highly uncertain,” the Bank said in a statement. “A downside scenario in which infections continue to rise and the rollout of a vaccine is delayed could limit the global expansion to 1.6 percent in 2021.”

With successful pandemic control and a faster vaccination process, global growth could accelerate to nearly 5 percent,

it said in its latest Global Eco-nomic Prospects report.

More than 85 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus and nearly 1.85 million have died since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.

The pandemic is expected to have long-lasting adverse effects on the global economy, worsening a slowdown that was already projected before the outbreak began, and the world could face a “decade of growth disappointments” unless com-prehensive reforms were put in place, the Bank said.

Shallower contractions in advanced economies and a more robust recovery in China

helped avert a bigger collapse in overall global output, but dis-ruptions were more acute in most other emerging market and developing economies, the Bank said.

Aggregate gross domestic product in emerging markets and developing economies - including China - is expected to grow 5 percent in 2021 after a con-traction of 2.6 percent in 2020.

China’s economy was expected to expand by 7.9 percent this year after growing by 2 percent in 2020, the Bank said.

Excluding China, emerging market and developing econ-omies were seen expanding 3.4 percent in 2021 after shrinking 5 percent in 2020.

Per capita incomes have dropped in 90 percent of emerging market and devel-oping economies, tipping mil-lions back into poverty, with reduced investor confidence, increasing unemployment and loss of education time seen dampening prospects for future poverty reduction, the Bank said.

The crisis also triggered a surge in debt levels among emerging market and devel-oping economies, with gov-ernment debt up by 9 per-centage points of GDP - the largest one-year spike since the late 1980s.

“The global community needs to act rapidly and force-fully to make sure the latest wave of debt does not end with debt crises,” the report said, adding that reductions in debt levels would be the only way for some countries to return to solvency.

A resurgence of infections stalled a nascent rebound in

advanced economies in the third quarter, with economic output now expected to expand by 3.3 percent in 2021, instead of 3.9 percent as initially forecast, the Bank said.

It forecast that US gross domestic product would expand by 3.5 percent in 2021, after an estimated 3.6 percent contraction in 2020. The euro area was expected to see output grow 3.6 percent this year, following a 7.4 percent decline in 2020, while activity in Japan, which shrank by 5.3 percent in the year just ended, is forecast to grow by 2.5 percent.

The World Bank headquarters in Washington, US.

With successful pandemic control and a faster vaccination process, global growth could accelerate to nearly 5 percent, World Bank said in its latest Global Economic Prospects report.

QLM shares listing on QSE this monthTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

QLM Life & Medical Insurance Company QPSC (“QLM”), the leading life and medical insurance company in Qatar, said yesterday that QLM is awaiting the required regu-latory approvals for the admission to trade on the Qatar Exchange. The first day of trading of QLM shares is expected to be in January and QLM will provide an update on the precise date as soon as regulatory approvals are obtained and the date is confirmed.

Qatari talent recognised at Huawei Middle East ICT Competition 2020

FROM PAGE 1

Today Huawei is committed to growing the region’s ICT talent eco-system by investing in youth and pro-viding development and training oppor-tunities that facilitate connections between international talent. By openly collaborating with public and private sector entities in the Middle East, the company also seeks to promote a greater understanding of and interest in the tech-nology sector, while enhancing students’

future employment opportunities in an increasingly digital economy.

Through the ICT Competition which has witnessed the participation of over 60,000 students in four years, Huawei plays a key role in developing an environment of openness, collab-oration and shared success, which will nurture a more successful and cohesive future for connectivity on a nationwide and global scale in the years and decades to come.

Normalisation of relations will help Qatar’s non-oil economy

FROM PAGE 1

Qatar’s banks have concen-trated domestic exposures, including exposure to the real-estate sector, and are exposed to adverse shifts in external funding conditions. Their net foreign liabilities rose to a record $130bn, or 70 percent of GDP, in 2019. “We estimate the debt of non-bank gov-ernment-related entities is also significant, at around 38 percent of GDP in 2019,” said the report.

The report had noted that the government’s strong overall asset position mitigates some of the risks from high indebt-edness. “We estimate sovereign net foreign assets (reserves plus other government assets less external debt) at 137 percent of GDP ($240bn) in 2019, largely reflecting the estimated assets of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) which have been buoyed in recent years by strong market returns.

QIB financial literacy program reaches over 500 students

FROM PAGE 1

Mashaal Abdulaziz Al Derham, said "The record number of graduates from this semester reflects our success in attracting students who are eager to know more about how to best manage their money and how to implement the best saving and investment practices in the future. In partnership with INJAZ Qatar, we look forward to kicking off the last semester of the program in February 2021, and to continue contributing to educating future leaders and empow-ering the youth of Qatar to make informed decisions in their everyday life.”

Kariman Mahmoud, Programs Manager at INJAZ Qatar, added: “INJAZ Qatar is delighted to witness such a successful conclusion of our highly val-uable program in association with QIB. ‘How Money Works?’ was one our

most successful initiatives this semester, and we were proud to offer useful advice to more than 500 stu-dents. I would like to sincerely thank the QIB volunteers for working along with the INJAZ Qatar team to deliver another successful edition of ‘How Money Works?, and we look forward to welcoming new students from across Qatar to the program next semester.”

Launched in 2018 by QIB in col-laboration with INJAZ Qatar, ‘How Money Works?’ is a three-year inno-vative financial literacy program reflecting QIB’s core social responsi-bility values, and the bank’s com-mitment to educating the young gen-eration in Qatar on elementary notions and practices related to finance and business.

Saudis surprise oil market with big unilateral output cutBLOOMBERG

Saudi Arabia surprised the oil market with a large reduction in its output for February and March, carrying a greater burden of OPEC+ cuts while other producers hold steady or make small increases.

The kingdom will make an extra cut of 1 million barrels a day, said Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman. That more than offsets the combined 75,000 barrel-a-day increase Russia and Kazakhstan will be allowed to make in each of those months. The rest of the group will hold output steady.

"We do that with the purpose of

supporting our economy, the economies of our colleagues in OPEC+ countries, to support the industry,” Prince Abdulaziz told reporters after the group’s video conference yesterday.

The Saudi pledge makes for a tighter market than traders had been anticipating and sent crude surging to a 10-month high. It shows how worried the kingdom is about the impact of Europe’s resurgent coronavirus pandemic on oil demand, but also its determination to avoid a new price war with Russia.

Both countries get at least part of what they wanted — the additional price support desired by Riyadh and the pro-duction boost Moscow had been pushing.

Still, the contortions that were necessary to secure a consensus after two days of talks show the fragility of the alliance between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other major producers.

The de-facto leaders of the group have different priorities, with Saudi Arabia preferring to sacrifice volume in exchange for higher prices, while Russia wants to boost production before rival suppliers can fill the gap.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alex-ander Novak welcomed Saudi Arabia’s move, telling reporters that "it’s a great New Year present for the whole oil industry.” It’s an especially sweet gift for

US shale drillers, said RBC analyst Helima Croft.

The agreement means the global market will get far less supply than traders had been expecting prior to this week. The OPEC+ meeting opened on Monday with a proposal from Russia for a 500,000 barrel a day output hike next month, which was opposed by most other members. The alliance had been scheduled to discuss similar-sized increases in March and April, but that plan has been superseded by the latest accord.

Oil prices surged, with West Texas Intermediate crude jumping as much as 5.4 percent to $50.17 a barrel in New York, the highest since February 26.

Kinder Morgan: Texas Permian Highway gas pipeline enters serviceREUTERS — OTTAWA

US energy company Kinder Morgan Inc has said that its $2bn Permian Highway natural gas pipeline from the Permian Basin in West Texas to the Gulf Coast entered full service on January 1.

Kinder Morgan said gas has been flowing on the pipe for weeks during the commis-sioning process.

Energy traders said those flows helped boost prices at the Waha hub in the Permian basin over the past couple of months.

Since turning negative on October 23, next-day gas prices at Waha have averaged $2.32

per million British thermal units (mmBtu). That compares with

an average of $1.18 for all of 2020 and a five-year average

(2015-2019) of $2.12.That increase cut the

premium of gas prices at the US Henry Hub benchmark over Waha to just 32 cents since October 23. Henry Hub’s premium over Waha averaged 85 cents for all of 2020 and 65 cents over the past five years.

Kinder Morgan said the Permian Highway is fully sub-scribed under long-term con-tracts and provides about 2.1 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of capacity, helping to reduce Permian gas flaring.

The Permian is the biggest US production area for crude oil and the second biggest for gas. Drillers in the Permian are

seeking oil, which comes out of the ground with a lot of gas. Producers have burned or flared record amounts of gas in recent years due to a lack of pipeline capacity.

That lack of capacity caused prices at the Waha to turn neg-ative several times in 2019 and 2020, which means some pro-ducers paid others to take their gas.

A unit of Kinder Morgan operates the pipeline, which is owned by units of Kinder Morgan (26.7 percent), EagleClaw Midstream (26.7 percent), Altus Midstream (26.7 percent) and an affiliate of an anchor shipper (20 percent).

Steel pipe to be used in the pipeline construction of Kinder Morgan Canada’s Trans Mountain Expansion Project sit on rail cars at a stockpile site in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada.

Qualcomm names Amon as CEOREUTERS — BENGALURU

Qualcomm Inc, the world’s biggest supplier of mobile phone chips, said yesterday it had named its president and chip division head Cris-tiano Amon as its new chief executive.

Amon, who has been with the San Diego-based company since 1995 and became president in 2018, will replace outgoing CEO Steven Mollenkopf, effective June 30.

In recent years Amon has overseen the company’s chip division, which supplies processors to most Android phones and modem chips that help Android devices and Apple Inc’s iPhones connect to wireless data networks.

A strong proponent of 5G, the new generation of faster wireless networks, he has led Qualcomm’s push to put 5G chips into low and mid-priced handsets. He has also guided the company’s expansion into new areas such as 5G infrastructure equipment, automotive computers and personal computers.

“We have been at the forefront of innovation for decades and I look forward to maintaining this position

going forward,” said the 50-year-old, a native of Brazil who restores vintage muscle cars in his spare time.

But Amon, who also played a role in Qual-comm’s licensing division as company president, will face some tough chal-lenges as CEO, such as how to deal with Qual-comm’s heavy reliance on intellectual property from Arm Ltd for its processor chips.

Arm is in the middle of a $40bn takeover by Nvidia Corp, which has a brewing rivalry with Qualcomm in chips for artificial intelligence.

Amon could be forced to find a replacement for Arm’s

intellectual property if Qualcomm concludes that depending on a competitor creates too much long-term risk.

Qualcomm has already started using more of its own intellectual property in chips for artificial intelli-gence and is using an Arm alternative called RISC-V in certain parts of its phone processors.

The current CEO, Mol-lenkopf, is himself no stranger to challenges having guided Qualcomm through three crises: A hostile takeover attempt by Broadcom Inc, an antitrust challenge by the US Federal Trade Commission and a protracted legal battle with Apple.

A file photo of Qualcomm’s Cristiano Amon speaking about 5G at the Snapdragon Tech Summit in New York.

03WEDNESDAY 6 JANUARY 2021 BUSINESS

UK offers $6.2bn support package to firmsREUTERS — LONDON

Britain offered a £4.6bn ($6.2bn) support package for businesses yesterday to soften an expected recession caused by a surge in COVID-19 cases that has prompted a third national lockdown.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the lockdown on Monday, saying a highly conta-gious coronavirus variant risked overwhelming the health service within 21 days.

Most people must work from home and schools have closed for almost all pupils. Hospitality venues must stay shut, as well as non-essential shops.

Britain’s economy now looks likely to tip back into recession - shrinking in the final quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021 - after suffering a record 25 percent fall in output in the first two months of lockdown in 2020. The new downturn is expected to be far smaller, with most businesses now much better adapted to working remotely and construction sites and factories expected to stay open.

But economists at J.P. Morgan still predicted a hefty 2.5 percent fall in output for the first three months of 2021.

Finance minister Rishi Sunak has previously announced emer-gency help for the economy worth £280bn, including a massive job protection scheme that will run until the end of April.

Under yesterday’s additional measures, retail, hospitality and leisure companies will be able to claim one-off grants worth up to £9,000 to get them through the coming months, costing up to £4bn in total, along with £600m of grants for other businesses.

“This will help businesses to get through the months ahead - and crucially it will help sustain jobs, so workers can be ready to return when they are able to reopen,” Sunak said.

Government forecasters in November predicted almost £400bn of borrowing this

financial year, equivalent to 19 percent of GDP - a peacetime record but one that, at least for now, can be financed at record-low interest rates.

The Bank of England is buying government debt and in November ramped up its asset purchase programme to almost £900bn with the intention of using it throughout 2021.

However, the British Chambers of Commerce said Sunak’s “drip-feed approach” to support for businesses would see many go to the wall as they would not qualify for sufficient assistance. “While this imme-diate cashflow support for business is welcome, it is not going to be enough to save many firms,” BCC director general

Adam Marshall said.Britain suffered the most

severe contraction of any Group of Seven economy in the second quarter of 2020 and the Organ-isation for Economic Cooper-ation and Development has esti-mated Britain’s recovery by the end of this year will be the slowest of all its member coun-tries except Argentina.

A woman wearing a face mask stands outside a closed barber shop as Britain began its third COVID-19 lockdown in Fulham, London, in Britain, yesterday.

Britain’s economy now looks likely to tip back into recession - shrinking in the final quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021 - after suffering a record 25 percent fall in output in the first two months of lockdown in 2020.

In sudden U-turn, NYSE scraps plan to delist three Chinese telecom firmsREUTERS — HONG KONG/SINGAPORE

The New York Stock Exchange said it no longer intends to delist three Chinese telecom giants, a shock reversal of an announcement made only last week and deepening confusion over a US crackdown on firms said to be linked to China’s military.

The bourse, which had planned to delist the companies before January 11, said in a brief statement it had made the decision “in light of further con-sultation with relevant regu-latory authorities.” Hong Kong-traded shares in the state-backed firms, China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom Hong Kong, surged following the news.

Coming in the final weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency, the flip-flop has underscored the lack of clarity about the imple-mentation and implications of the US ban on investment in 35 Chinese companies deemed to have military links. “(It) shows how little light there is in that set of regulatory guidance so far, especially around the time the US is changing administrations,” said Tariq Dennison, managing director at GFM Asset Man-agement in Hong Kong.

Dennison’s funds hold China Mobile shares in both Hong Kong and New York. He has almost

entirely unwound New York positions in anticipation of needing to find US clients invest-ments with less exposure to risks associated with the investment bans.

Some analysts said they believe the exchange had been told by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, which is respon-sible for enforcing sanctions, that delistings were unnecessary even though investment in related companies was banned.

“We think this is the logical conclusion,” said Jefferies analyst Edison Lee, who called the about-face “bizarre”.

Others added that the reversal made sense for the bourse.

“China accounts for at least one-fourth of US (stock exchanges’) foreign income. It’s a smart thing to do,” said Francis Lun, CEO of Geo Securities.

The November order from Trump’s administration has prompted index makers including FTSE Russell and MSCI to cut a dozen Chinese com-panies on the list from their benchmarks, but none removed the three telecom firms, all of which have major passive US funds amongst their top shareholders.

The three telecom firms said in statements that they had taken note of the NYSE’s latest announcement and would release information in

accordance with regulations, adding that investors should pay attention to investment risks.

China’s foreign ministry has lambasted what it calls the US stretching of the concept of national security to suppress Chinese companies.

It reiterated yesterday that the status of the United States as an international financial centre relies on the confidence that global companies and investors have in the certainty of its rules.

A representative for the NYSE, which is owned by global exchange operator Interconti-nental Exchange declined to comment beyond the bourse’s statement.

The NYSE move briefly lifted the yuan to a new 30-month high on hopes it might herald some kind of easing in geopo-litical tension, but some were not optimistic that President-elect Joe Biden will bring about a quick de-escalation.

“He is inheriting a position of tension in US-China relations where he will probably not want his first 100 days to be remem-bered for instant concessions,” said GFM Asset’s Dennison.

Hong Kong-listed shares in China Mobile closed 5 percent higher yesterday, China Telecom shares finished up 3 percent and China Unicom climbed more than 8 percent to a six-week high while the broader Hang Seng index rose 0.6 percent.

A view of NYSE building in New York City, US.

Former head of China state assetfirm sentenced to death for graftAP — BEIJING

The former head of state-owned China Huarong Asset Management was sentenced to death yesterday for bribe taking in one of the harshest punishments for economic crimes in recent years.

Lai Xiaomin (pictured), 58, was also found guilty by the Second Intermediate People’s Court of Tianjin of lesser charges including corruption and bigamy.

Life sentences and suspended death sentences commuted to life after two years are frequently handed down in corruption cases, but death sen-tences without the chance of reprieve have become rare in recent years. Such sentences are automat-ically appealed to China’s highest court.

Lai was placed under investigation by the ruling Communist Party’s corruption watchdog in 2018 and expelled from the party later the same year.

In its ruling, the Tianjin court cited the “espe-cially enormous” size of the bribes Lai accepted, saying they exceeded 600 million yuan ($93m) in one instance. In total, it said Lai collected or sought to collect 1.79 billion yuan ($260m) over a decade in exchange for abusing his position to make invest-ments, offer construction contracts, help with pro-motions and provide other favours. He was also convicted of embezzling more than 25 million yuan (almost $4m) in state assets and starting a second family while still married to his first wife.

Although Lai provided useful details about mal-feasance by his subordinates, the seriousness of his bribetaking and “degree of harm caused to

society” were not enough to win him leniency, the court said in its ruling.

“Lai Xiaomin is lawless and greedy in the extreme,” the ruling said. “His crimes are extremely serious and must be punished severely under law.” Huarong is one of four entities created in the 1990s to buy nonperforming loans from banks, helping to revive the state-owned finance industry. Such asset management companies expanded into banking, insurance, real estate finance and other fields.

Lai was accused of squandering public money, illegally organising banquets, engaging in extra-marital affairs with multiple women and taking bribes, the anti-corruption agency said in 2018.

Investigators seized hundreds of millions of yuan (tens of millions of dollars) in cash from Lai’s properties, the Chinese business news magazine Caixin reported in 2018.

Lai was one of hundreds of officials at gov-ernment agencies, state companies and the mil-itary who have been detained in an anti-corruption crackdown launched in 2012.

JP Morgan says Bitcoincould surge to $146,000in the long termREUTERS — LONDON

Digital currency bitcoin has emerged as a rival to gold and could trade as high as $146,000 if it becomes established as a safe-haven asset, investment bank JPMorgan (JPM) said yesterday.

Interest in the world’s biggest cryptocurrency has soared this year, with investors viewing bitcoin as a hedge against inflation and an alter-native to the depreciating dollar. The rush led to bitcoin prices more than tripling in the past six months to a record peak of $34,800 on January 2.

“Bitcoin’s competition with gold has already started in our mind,” the Wall Street bank’s strategists said in a note, citing recent $7bn outflows from gold and more than $3bn of inflows into the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust.

That could mark a new dawn for the volatile digital currency after years as a play for speculators and retail punters.

“Considering how big the financial investment into gold is, a crowding out of gold as an ‘alternative’ currency implies big upside for bitcoin over the long term,” JPM said.

Bitcoin is likely to outshine gold as millennials become a more important component of the investment market over

time and given their preference for “digital gold” over tradi-tional bullion, JPM added.

With a market capitali-sation of $575bn, the bitcoin price would need a nearly fivefold jump to $146,000 to match the value of private gold wealth held in gold bars, coins or exchange-traded funds, the bank’s note added.

JPM strategists said the upside is conditional on the vol-atility of bitcoin converging with that of gold in the longer term.

Though JPM sees the possi-bility of “current speculative mania” propelling bitcoin to between $50,000 and $100,000, it warned that such levels would prove unsus-tainable until its volatility levels out.

“We note that the spec-tacular bitcoin rally of the past few weeks has moved bitcoin into more challenging territory, not only in terms of its posi-tioning backdrop, but also in terms of its valuation,” the bank said.

Amazon CEO tops list ofrichest charitable giftsAP — SILVER SPRING

The world’s richest person made the single-largest chari-table contribution in 2020, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual list of top donations, a $10bn gift that is intended to help fight climate change.

Amazon founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos (pictured), whose “real-time” worth Forbes mag-azine estimates at roughly $188bn, used the contribution to launch his Bezos Earth Fund. The fund, which supports non-profits involved in the climate crisis, has paid out $790m to 16 groups so far, according to the Chronicle.

Setting aside Bezos’ whopping gift, though, the sum total of the top 10 donations last year - $2.6bn - was the lowest since 2011, even as many bil-lionaires vastly increased their wealth in the stock market rally that catapulted technology shares in particular last year. According to the left-leaning Americans for Tax Fairness and the Institute for Policy Studies,

from March 18 through December 7, 2020, Bezos’ wealth surged by 63 percent, from $113bn to $184bn.

Phil Knight, who with his wife, Penny, made the second- and third-largest donations last year according to the Chronicle, increased his wealth by about 77 percent over the same March-to-December period. Knight and his wife gave more than $900m to the Knight Foundation and $300m to the University of Oregon.

Fred Kummer, founder of construction company HBE Corporation, and his wife, June, gave $300m to establish a foundation to support programs at the Missouri University of Science and Technology.

Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Pris-cilla Chan, delivered the fourth-largest donation on the Chronicle’s list: A $250m gift to the Center for Tech and Civic Life, which worked on voting security issues in the 2020 election. Zuckerberg, whose wealth nearly doubled t o $ 1 0 5 b n i n t h e

March-to-December period according to Americans for Tax Fairness and the Institute for Policy Studies, has been widely criticised and been called to testify before Con-gress for his company’s han-dling of disinformation in the runup to the 2020 presidential election.

In the fifth spot was Arthur Blank, co-founder of Home Depot, who gave $200m through his foundation to Chil-dren’s healthcare of Atlanta to build a new hospital.

Bezos and the Zuckerbergs made up the next spots on last year’s top 10 list, with $100m donations - Bezos for Feeding America to aid food banks across the country and the Zuckerbergs to the same election security group.

World Bank to resolve vaccine legal hurdlesREUTERS — WASHINGTON

The World Bank is working closely with over 100 countries to pave the way for them to receive low-interest loans and funding to purchase and distribute COVID-19 vaccines, World Bank Group President David Malpass told reporters yesterday.

World Bank officials were working with countries to address one of the key obstacles - rules that leave vaccine makers open for lawsuits or judgments - through legislation or other processes, he said during a teleconference.

Malpass also appealed to advanced economies to release reservations of vaccines that exceeded their current distri-bution capability to free up more vaccines for purchase or distribution in poorer countries.

The World Bank’s executive board in October approved $12bn in new funding for devel-oping countries to finance the purchase and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments for an estimated 1 billion people over 24 months.

04 WEDNESDAY 6 JANUARY 2021BUSINESS

BUSINESS BRIEFS

BENGALURU: Amazon.com Inc said yesterday it bought 11 Boe-ing 767-300 aircraft, as it looks to boost its delivery capabilities to cater to a surge in online or-ders. The aircraft, including seven from Delta Air Lines and four from West-Jet Airlines, will join Amazon's air cargo network by 2022, the online retailer said in a statement.

In June, Amazon had leased 12 Boeing 767-300 converted cargo aircraft from Air Transport Services Group Inc, bringing its total fleet to more than 80. “Having a mix of both leased and owned aircraft in our growing fleet al-lows us to better manage our operations,” said Sarah Rhoads, vice presi-dent of Amazon Global Air. -REUTERS

BEIJING: Huawei is reportedly work-ing on a 135W charger and will make its debut in the next generation on top-of-the-line branded phones, possibly the P50 family.

A new certification on China's 3C Agency reveals a 135W Huawei charger is in the works bearing the HW-200675CP0 model number, reports GSMArena. The charger will support 5V/3A all the way up to 20V/6.75A, which equals a whop-ping 135W. The 120W supporting Mi 10 Ultra is able to charge com-pletely in 24 minutes, but the Vivo iQOO Pro 5 can do so in 15 minutes due to a smaller battery.

Huawei phone with support for 135W charging should charge from 0 to 100 per cent in between 15-30 minutes, depending on the battery size. Currently, the 66W charger (HW-200200CP1) is the fastest inside the Huawei smart-phone ecosystem.

Amazon buys 11 aircraft to make deliveries faster

135W Huaweicharger isin the worksStocks fall as trading starts for year of great expectations

AP — NEW YORK

US stocks are falling, as big swings return to Wall Street at the onset of a year where the dominant expectation is for a powerful economic rebound to sweep the world.

The S&P 500 was 1.7 percent lower in afternoon trading after earlier dropping as much as 2.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also fell from its record set last week and was down 512 points, or 1.7 percent, at 30,094.

Coronavirus cases keep climbing at frightening rates around the world, threatening to bring more lockdown orders that would punish the economy. The worsening numbers also raise the possibility that Wall Street has been overly opti-mistic about the big economic recovery it sees coming because

of COVID-19 vaccines. Else-where in the world, stocks fell in Japan as officials there mull a state of emergency due to surging virus cases. But

optimism was more prevalent in other markets, with most European and Asian stock indexes higher. Treasury yields were holding relatively steady

after giving up a healthy gain in the morning.

The United Kingdom has been hit particularly hard by a new variant of the coronavirus that appears to be more conta-gious. The United Kingdom became the first nation to start using the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and drugmaker AstraZeneca.

In the United States, regu-lators have already approved two other vaccines. China last week gave the greenlight for its first domestically developed vaccine. Others are also being tested.

More than 80 percent of stocks in the S&P 500 were falling Monday. On the losing end of the market were several Big Tech stocks. Apple fell 2.8 percent, Microsoft dropped 2.7 percent and Amazon lost 2.2

percent. Because they’re so massive in size, the movements of Big Tech stocks have much more sway over the S&P 500 than other companies. Those three were the biggest drags on the index.

Airlines, cruise operators, hotel chains and stocks of other companies hit particularly hard by the pandemic also had some of the market’s sharpest losses.

Tesla rose 4.2 percent for one of the biggest gains in the S&P 500 after it said it delivered 499,500 vehicles last year. That’s a 36 percent jump on the year, though it fell short of CEO Elon Musk’s goal of 500,000, which was set before the pandemic hit.

In European stock markets, France’s CAC 40 gained 0.7 percent, and Germany’s DAX returned 0.1 percent. The FTSE 100 in London rose 1.7 percnet.

The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt.

Sale of electric cars in Norwayrise to record 54.3% in 2020REUTERS — OSLO

The sale of electric cars in Norway overtook those powered by petrol, diesel and hybrid engines last year, with German auto-maker Volkswagen replacing Tesla as the top battery-vehicle producer, new data showed yesterday.

So-called battery electric vehicles (BEV) made up 54.3 percent of all new cars sold in the Nordic country in 2020, a global record, up from 42.4 percent in 2019 and from a mere 1 percent of the overall market a decade ago, the Norwegian Road Feder-ation (OFV) said.

Seeking to become the first nation to end the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2025, oil-pro-ducing Norway exempts fully

electric vehicles from taxes imposed on those relying on fossil fuels. The policy has turned the country’s car market into a laboratory for automakers seeking a path to a future without internal combustion engines, vaulting new brands and models to the top of bestseller lists in recent years.

While the sale of BEVs had broken the 50 percent mark in individual months, 2020 was the first time that fully electric cars outsold the combined volume of models containing internal com-bustion engines for a year as a whole.

“We’re definitely on track to reach the 2025 target,” OFV Chief Executive Oeyvind Thorsen told a news conference.

BEV sales accelerated in the

final months of 2020, hitting its highest level for any single month in December, with a 66.7 percent share of the car market.

Volkswagen’s Audi brand topped the 2020 leaderboard with its e-tron sports utility and sportsback vehicles as the most sold new passenger cars in Norway last year, while Tesla’s mid-sized Model 3, the 2019 winner, was relegated to second place.

Electric vehicle sales are set to continue to soar in 2021, industry analysts and car distrib-utors said, as more models are brought to the market.

“Our preliminary forecast is for electric cars to surpass 65 percent of the market in 2021,” said Christina Bu who heads the Norwegian EV Association, an

interest group. “If we manage that, the goal of selling only zero-emission cars in 2025 will be within reach.”

Tesla’s mid-sized sports utility vehicle, the Model Y, is set to reach the Norwegian market this year, as are the first electric SUVs from Ford, BMW and Volkswagen.

By contrast, cars with diesel-only engines have tumbled from a peak of 75.7 percent of the overall Norwegian market in 2011 to just 8.6 percent last year.

New car sales in the country last year were 141,412, of which 76,789 were fully electric.

While the electric market share will keep rising, there is uncertainty around how many cars producers will allocate to Norway as European demand is increasing, said Harald Frigstad, chief executive at Norwegian car importer Bertel O. Steen.

The seller of Daimler’s Mer-cedes-Benz as well as the Kia, Peugeot, Opel, Citroen, DS and Smart brands, predicted around 70 percent of its sales would be of fully electric models in 2021.

OFV Chief Executive Oeyvind Thorsen

Seeking to become the first nation to end the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2025, oil-producing Norway exempts fully electric vehicles from taxes imposed on those relying on fossil fuels.

QATAR STOCK EXCHANGE

QE Index 10,618.39 +1.35 %QE Total Return Index 20,413.51 +1.35 %QE Al Rayan Islamic Index - Price 2,423.31 +0.79 %QE Al Rayan Islamic Index 4,323.12 +0.79 %QE All Share Index 3,259.93 +1.34 %QE All Share Banks & Financial Services 4,349.79 +1.74 %QE All Share Industrials 3,131.43 +0.99 %QE All Share Transportation 3,366.33 +1.94 %QE All Share Real Estate 1,947.00 +0.31 %QE All Share Insurance 2,470.90 +1.45 %QE All Share Telecoms 1,017.63 +0.60 %QE All Share Consumer Goods & Services 8,210.98 +0.05 %

QE INDICES SUMMARY QE MARKET SUMMARY COMPARISON WORLD STOCK INDICES

GOLD AND SILVER

05-01-2021Index 10,618.39Change +141.27% +1.35%YTD% +1.75Volume 370,958,492Value (QAR) 648,359,657.74Trades 12,183Up 35 | Down 09 | Unchanged 0404-01-2021Index 10,477.12Change +39.62% +0.38%YTD% +0.01Volume 105,297,570Value (QAR) 245,737,634.23Trades 5,290

EXCHANGE RATE

GOLD QR238.00 per grammeSILVER QR2.97 per gramme

Index Day’s Close Pt Chg % Chg Dow Jones Industrial Average 30,357.26 +133.37 +0.44% S&P 500 3,718.12 +17.47 +0.47% Nasdaq Composite Index 12,775.38 +76.94 +0.61% FTSE 100 Index 6,592.55 +20.67 +0.31% DAX Index 13,638.49 -88.25 -0.64% CAC 40 Index 5,559.36 -29.60 -0.53% Nikkei Stock Average 225 27,158.63 -99.75 -0.37% Hang Seng Index 27,649.86 +177.05 +0.64% Shanghai Composite Index 3,528.68 +25.72 +0.73% ASX All Ordinaries Index 6,955.70 +2.00 +0.03%

Currency Selling (QAR) Buying (QAR) US$ 3.6500 3.6305 Australian Dollar AUD 2.85 2.8 Bangladeshi Taka BDT 0.045 0.0425 Canadian Dollar CAD 2.91 2.87 Euro EUR 4.56 4.49 Indian Rupee INR 0.051 0.049 Malaysian Ringgit MYR 0.92 0.885 Nepalese Rupee NPR 0.033 0.031 Pakistani Rupee PKR 0.02326 0.02273 Philippine Peso PHP 0.079 0.075 Pound Sterling GBP 5.06 4.97 Singapore Dollar SGD 2.78 2.7 South African Rand ZAR 0.25 0.245 Sri Lankan Rupee LKR 0.02 0.019 Swiss Franc CHF 4.19 4.14 Turkish Lira TRY 0.505 0.5

QNBK - QNB 18.05 18.40 18.33 19.00 76,021 18.49 18.48 4,899 18.49 18.49 +0.44 +2.44 865 4,743,055 87,585,221.77

QIBK - Qatar Islamic Bank 17.16 17.28 17.22 17.48 131,116 17.46 17.31 39,418 17.46 17.46 +0.30 +1.75 353 856,836 14,893,027.30

CBQK - Comm. Bank of Qatar 4.355 4.44 4.36 4.44 5,241,192 4.4 4.361 1,400 4.40 4.400 +0.04 +1.03 371 3,240,581 14,252,767.35

DHBK - Doha Bank 2.39 2.401 2.380 2.401 12,496 2.393 2.38 2,160 2.393 2.39 +0.003 +0.13 36 487,833 1,166,174.062

ABQK - Ahli Bank 3.409 0.000 0.000 0.000 5,288 3.479 3.31 50,000 3.409 0.000 0.000 0.00 0 0 0.000

QIIK - Intl. Islamic Bank 9.212 9.300 9.213 9.355 29,026 9.296 9.244 4,168 9.296 9.296 +0.084 +0.91 439 1,533,183 14,252,999.459

MARK - Rayan 4.51 4.558 4.540 4.590 265,000 4.555 4.55 5,000 4.555 4.555 +0.045 +1.00 716 8,635,215 39,344,239.539

KCBK - Al khalij Commercial Bank 1.873 1.890 1.835 1.890 99,990 1.88 1.876 17,500 1.876 1.876 +0.003 +0.16 144 6,358,679 11,937,348.241

QFBQ - Qatar First Bank (QFC) 1.70 1.751 1.706 1.751 55,769 1.722 1.713 25,000 1.722 1.72 +0.022 +1.29 258 7,060,042 12,192,251.038

QETF - QE Index ETF 10.289 10.476 10.367 10.476 9,364 10.679 9.295 10,758 10.367 10.417 +0.078 +0.76 11 61,912 645,831.793

QATR - Al Rayan Qatar ETF 2.396 2.500 2.407 2.500 15,000 2.5 2.418 2,700 2.418 2.416 +0.022 +0.92 68 596,444 1,442,963.962

QATI - Qatar Insurance 2.43 2.45 2.44 2.54 12,331 2.5 2.48 4,399 2.50 2.500 +0.07 +2.88 175 5,319,505 13,226,998.95

DOHI - Doha Insurance 1.398 1.44 1.40 1.44 5,000 1.399 1.38 3,392 1.40 0.00 0.00 +0.14 7 109,750 157,239.00

QGRI - General Insurance 2.649 2.48 2.48 2.66 55,377 2.55 2.487 2,025 2.55 2.550 -0.10 -3.74 10 42,940 106,667.03

AKHI - Alkhaleej Takaful 1.915 1.930 1.914 1.930 215,910 1.924 1.905 40,128 1.924 1.92 +0.009 +0.47 63 906,000 1,737,530.150

QISI - Islamic Insurance 6.75 6.73 6.73 6.92 5,000 6.92 6.75 5,000 6.91 0.00 +0.16 +2.37 29 140,024 960,672.36

QAMC - QAMCO 0.971 0.990 0.973 0.991 391,542 0.983 0.98 10,000 0.983 0.98 +0.012 +1.24 313 8,795,052 8,647,904.984

QIMD - Ind. Manf. Co. 3.209 3.209 3.140 3.209 100 3.208 3.17 50,000 3.209 0.000 0.000 0.00 4 22,269 71,455.011

QNCD - National Cement Co. 4.259 4.300 4.201 4.301 30,000 4.309 4.301 155,642 4.301 4.301 +0.042 +0.99 64 587,004 2,518,381.348

ZHCD - Zad Holding Company 15.00 15.20 15.00 15.20 8,812 15.2 15.0 6,759 15.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 10 64,596 969,849.55

IQCD - Industries Qatar 10.85 11.20 10.90 11.22 10,000 11.02 10.93 22,000 10.93 10.93 +0.08 +0.74 301 1,033,545 11,347,785.14

UDCD - United Dev. Company 1.679 1.689 1.604 1.719 1,392 1.673 1.67 37,701 1.673 1.673 -0.006 -0.36 456 7,868,097 13,301,592.765

QGMD - Qatar German Co. Med 2.20 2.280 2.211 2.285 10,236 2.227 2.215 55,487 2.215 2.215 +0.015 +0.68 156 2,245,906 5,044,901.816

QIGD - The Investors 1.805 1.84 1.810 1.845 9,616 1.829 1.812 6,148 1.838 0.000 +0.033 +1.83 80 1,097,034 2,006,508.035

ORDS - Ooredoo 7.49 7.511 7.505 7.553 13,574 7.552 7.543 7,537 7.552 7.55 +0.062 +0.83 616 2,405,173 18,127,262.014

QEWS - Electricity & Water 17.90 18.30 17.80 18.30 216,260 18.23 18.07 9,680 18.23 18.23 +0.33 +1.84 149 755,892 13,770,276.63

SIIS - Salam International 0.653 0.68 0.66 0.68 226,562 0.663 0.66 959,596 0.66 0.660 +0.01 +1.07 565 44,727,379 29,933,496.92

BLDN - Baladna 1.795 1.819 1.793 1.840 35,000 1.795 1.794 10,983 1.795 1.795 0.000 0.00 280 6,922,425 12,517,852.207

NLCS - National Leasing 1.251 1.28 1.250 1.286 471,888 1.255 1.253 50,000 1.255 0.000 +0.004 +0.32 256 9,107,585 11,496,825.829

QNNS - Qatar Navigation 7.05 7.09 7.03 7.10 136,672 7.05 7.036 1,000 7.05 7.05 0.00 0.00 126 1,278,629 9,009,118.94

MCGS - Medicare 8.875 8.879 8.800 8.890 63,361 8.87 8.851 9,909 8.851 8.85 -0.024 -0.27 64 360,126 3,188,942.456

QCFS - Cinema 3.993 3.65 3.650 3.661 2,750 3.99 3.713 49,850 3.661 0.000 -0.332 -8.31 7 16,170 59,068.687

QFLS - Qatar Fuel 18.89 19.00 18.81 19.20 34,515 18.98 18.87 70,378 18.98 18.98 +0.09 +0.48 250 1,827,032 34,714,157.41

WDAM - Widam 6.298 6.42 6.27 6.42 10,858 6.3 6.27 57,859 6.27 6.27 -0.03 -0.44 69 558,543 3,516,933.57

GWCS - Gulf warehousing Co 5.12 5.20 5.11 5.30 10,000 5.15 5.149 1,936 5.15 5.15 +0.03 +0.59 405 4,082,477 21,310,807.57

QGTS - Nakilat 3.20 3.23 3.20 3.31 732,119 3.31 3.309 57 3.31 3.310 +0.11 +3.44 855 8,766,158 28,560,905.75

DBIS - Dlala 1.802 1.83 1.80 1.83 59,133 1.804 1.8 28,196 1.80 1.800 -0.00 -0.11 60 998,626 1,802,374.14

BRES - Barwa 3.398 3.450 3.420 3.495 16,560 3.421 3.42 42,399 3.421 3.421 +0.023 +0.68 294 3,580,450 12,345,473.024

MCCS - Mannai Corp. 3.00 3.05 3.015 3.078 5,000 3.015 3.005 100,000 3.015 0.000 +0.015 +0.50 69 753,167 2,291,208.969

AHCS - Aamal 0.855 0.898 0.860 0.898 167,993 0.865 0.863 447,140 0.865 0.865 +0.010 +1.17 206 6,249,205 5,466,203.262

QOIS - Qatar Oman 0.88 0.897 0.880 0.900 221,463 0.888 0.883 30,000 0.888 0.888 +0.008 +0.91 61 2,159,785 1,911,006.462

ERES - Ezdan Holding 1.785 1.825 1.796 1.839 100,000 1.81 1.801 1,961,622 1.801 1.801 +0.016 +0.90 449 13,632,197 24,667,888.563

IHGS - Inma 5.085 5.190 5.102 5.249 115,800 5.173 5.155 40 5.173 5.17 +0.088 +1.73 154 1,574,868 8,161,654.816

GISS - Gulf International 1.74 1.750 1.723 1.753 10,000 1.738 1.723 12,048 1.727 1.727 -0.013 -0.75 141 4,937,973 8,603,490.693

MPHC - Mesaieed 2.043 2.045 2.040 2.079 140,000 2.069 2.051 50,000 2.069 2.07 +0.026 +1.27 271 2,842,751 5,848,242.348

IGRD - Investment Holding 0.60 0.600 0.587 0.610 2,499,405 0.603 0.602 50,000 0.603 0.603 +0.003 +0.50 1,253 167,306,042 100,176,796.179

VFQS - Vodafone Qatar 1.36 1.364 1.350 1.371 37,551 1.359 1.358 23,018 1.359 1.359 -0.001 -0.07 150 3,709,361 5,055,126.465

MERS - Al Meera 20.89 21.00 20.53 21.00 1,478 20.67 20.64 3,973 20.64 20.64 -0.25 -1.20 75 73,234 1,515,362.98

MRDS - Mazaya 1.28 1.300 1.280 1.310 10,335 1.283 1.281 4,349,675 1.281 1.281 +0.001 +0.08 429 20,527,742 26,498,871.204