Britain’s Greg Clark in GermanyBritain’s Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Greg Clark, gives a statement at a Christian Social Union (CSU) party meeting at ‘Kloster Seeon’ in Seeon, Germany, yesterday.

BUSINESSBUSINESSFriday 5 January 2018

MAIN BRANCHPH: 44441448

LULU HYPER MARKETPH: 44650768

SANAYYA (STREET 17)PH: 44510088

AL KHORPH: 44213444

MATAR QADEEMPH: 44655559

MANSOURA - AL MEERAPH: 44357552

ABU HAMOURPH: 44621271

BIN OMRAN - ALMEERAPH: 44162002

������������ �������������

a l z a m a n e x c h a n g e w w w . a l z a m a n e x c h a n g e . c o m 4 4 4 4 1 4 4 8

QAR/INR : 17.30 QAR/PHP : 13.60 QAR/LKR : 41.92 QAR/BDT : 22.65

EUR/QAR : 4.54 GBP/QAR : 5.09 CAD/QAR : 3.00 AUD/QAR : 2.97

CHF/QAR : 3.86 SGD/QAR : 2.84 KWD/QAR : 12.30 OMR/QAR : 9.62

Currency TT Rate Currency TT Rate Currency TT Rate Currency TT Rate

PAGE | 19PAGE | 18Hiring by US

private sector firms surges

UK firms more upbeat about this year

FTSE100 DOW BRENT7,695.88+24.77 PTS0.32%

25,069.55+146.87 PTS0.59% Dow & Brent before going to press

$61.93 +0.30

Stocks break records; oil at highest since 2015REUTERS

LONDON: Market bulls resumed their charge yesterday� as strong data from the world’s biggest economies sent stock index records tumbling and oil prices to their highest since mid-2015.

In an apparent acceleration of last year’s global equity boom� MSCI’s world index and London’s FTSE both set records in Europe� and the Dow Jones was expected to break the 25,000 barrier when Wall Street reopens.

Tokyo’s Nikkei, Asia’s biggest market, had earlier shot to its highest since 1991 with a 3.3 per-cent surge.

Asia-Pacific excluding Japan scaled a decade-high peak as a fifth day of gains in China helped emerging market stocks to a 6 1/2-year high as well.

“It is a continuation of the goldilocks story� “ said Michael Metcalfe� State Street Global Mar-kets’ head of macro strategy.

“The main theme last year was strong growth and accom-modative (monetary) policy� and the data we have had so far sug-gest that the growth is expected to accelerate� and without inflation.”

The data published yesterday reinforced expectations that solid world growth will boost demand for goods� including oil� and lift corporate earnings.

China’s services sector activity hit its highest level in more than three years� manufac-turing data from Japan came in strong and euro zone surveys showed the bloc enjoying its strongest run in nearly seven years.

IHS Markit’s Final Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index - considered a good overall growth

indicator for euro zone - rose to 58.1 in December from 57.5 in November and up slightly from a flash estimate of 58.0.

“A stellar end to 2017 for the euro zone rounded off the best year for over a decade� contin-uing to confound widely held fears that rising political uncer-tainty would curb economic growth� “ said Chris Williamson (pictured)� chief business econ-omist at IHS Markit.

Another factor behind the upbeat mood was that minutes of the Federal Reserve’s mid-December meeting released on Wednesday did little to change that view that it will stick to

measured increases in US interest rates.

They showed policymakers expect US President Donald Trump’s tax overhaul will to boost consumer spending but are still uncertain about the wider impact the stimulus would have on things like inflation.

Fed funds rate futures moved to price a 75 percent chance of a rate hike by March� compared with around 60 percent at the end of last year.

But markets are still not fully pricing in the three rate increases many Fed officials expect this year.

The dollar climbed off a three-month low after the min-utes but was backsliding before US markets re-opened.

The dollar was at 112.64 yen and the euro up 0.4 percent at $1.2063. If the single currency gets above September’s peak of $1.2092� it would return to ground last trod in early 2015.

Analysts are now wondering whether the strength of the euro zone economy could even encourage the European Central Bank to start raising its still-neg-ative interest rates.

”We see some very positive

euro sentiment in the market right now� “ said Commerzbank currency strategist Esther Reichelt in Frankfurt.

Yields on French bonds held at 0.80 percent as neighbouring Germany’s 10-year rates inched up to 0.45 percent.

But Spain’s yields saw their biggest drop in almost two months as it easily sold 4.6 bil-lion euros of bonds.

The bigger focus� though� was on commodity prices� which often have a big influence on global inflation.

Oil prices were touching levels not seen since before com-modity markets slumped in 2014 and 2015� boosted by tensions in key producer Iran and ongoing Opec-led output cuts.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose as high as $62.17 per barrel� their highest level since mid-2015 before easing back.

International benchmark Brent rose to a 2 1/2-year high of $68.19 a barrel.

At the same time� inflation expectations indicated by the gap between 10-year US inflation-linked bonds and conventional bonds was above 2 percent� at

the highest level since March.“Oil appears to be traded at

a premium compared to eco-nomic fundamentals because of concerns over development in Iran� “ said Motofumi Okoshi� senior economist at Nomura Securities.

At the moment though� for-ward contracts are trading cheaper than expected spot prices� a condition known as “backwardation”� suggesting investors expect any supply shortages to be temporary.

“If conditions in Iran dete-riorate further� I expect forward contracts will begin to be bought as well� “ Okoshi said.

Political concerns were also supporting safe-haven gold� which fetched $1,310 per ounce� after hitting a 3 1/2-month high of $1,321.5 on Wednesday.

Still� investors expect finan-cial markets to stay stable overall.

The Cboe Volatility index� which measures implied price volatility of US

stocks in the next one month � closed at 9.15 on Wednesday� just short of its record closing low of 9.14 touched on November 3.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose as high as $62.17 per barrel� their highest level since mid-2015 before easing back. International benchmark Brent rose to a 2 1/2-year high of $68.19 a barrel.

Cryptocurrency fund BlockTower to raise $140m

QSE index closes at 8,630.67 points

BLOOMBERG

BOSTON: BlockTower Capital, a digital currency hedge fund launched in August, raised $140m and hired a former vice president at Goldman Sachs Group Inc, expanding its team to eight people, according to people familiar with the matter.

The money manager, which is based in Stamford, Connecticut, has raised capital from family offices and other institutions such as venture capital firms, the people said.

Union Square Ventures LLC and Andreessen Horowitz separately said they are inves-tors and declined further com-ment. BlockTower declined to comment through a spokes-woman. The company recently informed investors that its flag-ship fund closed to new cap-ital as of Jan. 1, according to an email viewed by Bloomberg News.

BlockTower also hired Michael Bucella, who joined Goldman in 2008 and most recently worked in multi-asset sales for Canada, as head of strategic partnerships and business development, according to the people.

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Qatar Stock Exchange’s (QSE) benchmark index gained 104.67 points, 1.23 percent, last week when the bourse closed yesterday at 8,630.67 points.

Trading value during last week decreased by 31.28 per-cent to reach QR866.12m com-pared to QR1.26bn.

Trading volume decreased by 39.02 percent to reach 37.80 million shares, as against 61.99 million shares, while the number of transactions rose by 6.85 percent, to reach 15,610 transactions as compared to 14,609 transactions.

Market cap rose by 1.07 percent to reach QR477.77bn as compared to QR472.71bn at the end of previous week.

Banking and financial serv-ices sector led traded value last week with 38.05 percent of the total trading value. Real estate sector accounted for 18.58 per-cent. Industries sector accounted for 17.21 percent and consumer goods and services sector accounted for 12.17 per-cent. Banking and financial services sector led traded volume last week with 31.17 percent of the total traded

volume. Real estate sector accounted for 28.61 percent. Industries sector accounted for 20.29 percent and telecoms sector accounted for 5.92 percent.

Banking and financial serv-ices sector led traded number of transactions last week with 29.72 percent of the total number of transactions. Indus-tries sector accounted for 22.42 percent. Real estate sector accounted for 18.19 percent and consumer goods and services sector accounted for 11.27 per-cent, reports QNA.

Out of the 45 listed compa-nies 35 ended last week higher, while eight fell and two remained unchanged.

Masraf Al Rayan led trading vaWhen compared on daily basis, the QSE index gained 22.36 points, or 0.26 percent.

The volume of shares traded increased to 8.70 mil-lion from 8.60 million on Wednesday and the value of shares increased to QR236.61m from QR198.80m on Wednesday.

From the 45 companies, shares of 40 saw trading yes-terday. Of these, 22 companies gained and 18 closed lower.

Home in UK at ‘unbelievable’ discountBLOOMBERG

LONDON: “Unbelievable reduc-tion,” says the broker’s email. An investor who agreed to purchase an apartment at the ritzy One Blackfriars project on

the banks of the River Thames is offering the two-bedroom home on the 20th floor for £1.8m ($2.44m), more than 22 percent less than they agreed to pay for it in 2013.

The seller, who’s from Asia,

wants to offload the property before it’s completed, according to Christian Barr, new homes manager at MyLondonHome, who’s brokering the sale. Stamp duty is payable after a proper-ty’s construction is finished.

QSE8,630.67+22.36 PTS0.26%

18 FRIDAY 5 JANUARY 2018BUSINESS

UK firms more upbeat about this year REUTERS

LONDON: Britain’s economy appears to have picked up some speed in late 2017 and businesses grew more upbeat about 2018, a closely watched survey showed yesterday, little more than a year before the country is due to exit the European Union.

Separate data showed con-sumers reined in their borrowing - welcome news for the Bank of England, which has leaned on banks to reduce risky lending.

The monthly IHS Markit/CIPS surveys of businesses signalled Britain’s economy probably grew 0.4 to 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter, slightly faster than offi-cial growth data for the previous quarter.

But there were signs that Brexit is weighing on businesses’ investment plans, a “health warning” for the sustainability of Britain’s economy, data

company IHS Markit said. The survey also suggested growth in Britain’s economy in December lagged that of the eurozone by some margin.

The economy largely with-stood the immediate shock of the referendum decision in 2016 to leave the EU. But it felt more of an impact in 2017 due to higher inflation - caused by the post-referendum fall in the pound that hurt consumers - and uncer-tainty among businesses about what Brexit means for them. yesterday, the Bank of England said consumers increased their borrowing by the smallest amount since mid-2015 in the three months to November.

This reinforced official data last month which showed house-hold spending rose in the third quarter at the slowest pace since 2012. Kallum Pickering (pic-tured), an economist at Berenberg, said the IHS Markit/

CIPS survey put the economy on course for growth of around 1.8 percent for 2017 as a whole - bet-ter than most forecasters expected.

“(But) the uncertainty from Brexit prevented the UK from fully enjoying the tailwind from the synchronised global upswing,” he said. “Without Brexit, the UK economy would

have expanded by at least 2.5 percent last year.”

The IHS Markit/CIPS services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 54.2 in December, its second-highest reading since April, beating forecasts in a Reu-ters poll that it would remain at November’s 53.8.

The PMI survey was

conducted from December 5 to December 19, so included responses both before and after Prime Minister Theresa May gained agreement from the EU to move Brexit talks on to dis-cuss transitional arrangements and a longer-term trade deal. However, British retailers - who are not included in the PMI - have reported mixed fortunes over the Christmas period.

Major clothing chain Next said on Wednesday that colder-than-usual weather had given an extra boost to demand, but department store operator Debenhams issued a profit warning.

Some consumers have relied on borrowing to keep up their spending, something many econ-omists say looks likely to slow as wage growth remains weak.

The Bank of England said unsecured consumer lending in the three months to November

grew at its weakest pace since June 2015, up by an annualised 8.5 percent. That was down from 9.3 percent in the three months to October.

The BoE has played down any suggestion of a debt bubble, though it has acknowledged pockets of risk and required banks to set aside more money against the risk of bad loans. Business lending showed the weakest growth since May 2016, an echo of the caution shown in the PMI survey.

Net mortgage approvals for house purchase were at the higher end of economist fore-casts at 65,139 in November compared with 64,887 in Octo-ber, after a run of three monthly declines. Earlier yesterday, mortgage lender Nationwide said house prices overall last year grew at their slowest pace since 2012, and fell in London for the first time since 2009.

The economy largely withstood the immediate shock of the referendum decision in 2016 to leave the EU. But it felt more of an impact in 2017 due to higher inflation.

Tokyo Stock Exchange’s first day of tradingJapanese Finance Minister Taro Aso (right) stands next to a woman ringing a bell during the ceremony which kicks off the first day of trading in 2018 at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo, Japan, yesterday.

Idea Cellular to raise $1bn as founders boost holding

BLOOMBERG

MUMBAI: Billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla’s (pictured) Idea Cellular Ltd plans to raise more than $1bn to strengthen its war chest as competition in the world’s second-largest telecom market intensifies.

The company, which is poised to merge with Voda-fone Group Plc’s India unit to form the nation’s biggest wire-less carrier, will raise 32.5bn rupees ($513m) by selling shares to its founders, accord-ing to exchange filings. It has named a panel to consider raising an additional 35bn rupees of capital through var-ious routes, including an institutional placement, Idea said.

Idea will issue up to 326.6 million shares at 99.50 rupees a piece to founder entities Birla TMT Holdings, Elaine Invest-ments, Oriana Investments and Surya Kiran Investments on a preferential basis, it said in the filing. The transaction is expected to be completed by early February and will take the founders’ stake in Idea to as much as 47.2 percent from 42.4 percent, it said.

US auto sales fall for first time since 2009AFP

NEW YORK: Automakers reported the first annual decline in US sales since the end of the financial crisis, a dip offset by continued strength in sales of trucks and other large vehicles.

The three leaders in the US market—General Motors, Ford and Toyota—all reported mod-est declines in 2017 compared with the sales records set in 2016.

The results put an end to US auto industry’s eight-year streak of increases, as the national total slipped 1.5 per-cent to 17.23 million, according to Autodata.

The winning streak “was the result of pent-up demand after the recession that’s finally just running out,” said Tim Fleming, an analyst at Kelley Blue Book.

Automakers had been brac-ing for the sales gains to come to an end for the last couple of years, but that was averted in 2016 in part by heavy incentives implemented late in the year to unload excess inventory.

Despite the decline, ana-lysts note that sales above 17 million is still very strong.

And the US auto industry continues to enjoy strong demand for larger vehicles, including SUVs, pickup trucks and “crossover” models.

Larger vehicles are grab-bing even more market share from sedans, which Kelley esti-mated made up just 36 percent of the US market last year, down from 50 percent in 2012.

GM’s annual sales fell 1.3 percent to three million vehi-cles last year, but the biggest US automaker said continued strength in larger crossover

vehicles and trucks had helped lift the average retail price for all vehicles to a record $35,400 in the final month of the year.

Ford’s sales fell 1.1 percent to 2.6 million compared to 2016, but it reported a surprise increase in December, fueled in part by the continued suc-cess of the F-Series pickups and other large vehicles.

The average price of best-selling F-Series came in at $47,800, a new record, mark-ing an “unbelievable year” for the model, Ford Vice President Mark LaNeve (pictured) said.

Toyota, saw US sales drop 0.6 percent to 2.4 million, but the company highlighted strength in its popular Camry sedan, the RAV4 crossover and SUVs.

Fiat Chrysler did not release year-end figures, but its December sales fell 11 percent to 171,946, a bit below the level projected by Edmunds, but above the forecast by Kelley Blue Book. Sales were hit by lower sales to car rental companies.

Honda’s US sales rose 0.2 percent for the year to 1.6 mil-lion. Nissan’s 2017 sales also came in at 1.6 million, a 1.9 per-cent increase from the prior year.

Malaysia says unlikely to meet 2020 budget goalREUTERS

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is unlikely to meet earlier targets it set for a balanced budget by 2020 and will need another two to three years to reach the goal, the country’s second finance minister said yesterday.

The shift in the budget target follows comments by ratings agencies late last year that the Southeast Asian economy might struggle to meet its objectives in the stated timeframe due to a run up in spending. “I don’t think by 2020 (the government) can achieve a balanced budget because if you do that, basically you will squeeze economic development,” second finance minister Johari Abdul Ghani (pictured) said at a conference,

adding the government will have to spend in order to stimulate the economy.

“We will try to extend it to 2022-23,” he said.

Johari reiterated projections stated previously that the fiscal deficit will be reduced to 2.8 per-cent of gross domestic product this year from 3 percent in 2017.

Prime Minister Najib Razak has been able to lower Malaysia’s fiscal deficit every year since tak-ing power in 2009 and that has been significant for maintaining Malaysia’s investment-grade sov-ereign credit ratings. However, some analysts are concerned the increase in government spending will hinder the pace of deficit reduction going forward.

Najib, under pressure to shore up his government’s popularity, in October unveiled a budget aimed at winning votes in a national election that must be held by August. He announced a spending increase of 7.5 percent for 2018 from last year, and said the government plans to cut per-sonal income tax for lower-income citizens, pay more to pensioners and spend billions

on schools, hospitals and rural infrastructure.

Post the 2018 budget announcement, ratings agency Moody’s said it does not expect Malaysia to achieve the balanced budget target by 2020. Rising spending in the run up to the elec-tions and lack of revenue reforms slowed the pace of deficit reduc-tion, it said. Fitch, however, said in October Malaysia’s 2020 tar-get would “require a step-up in consolidation efforts in 2019 and 2020, but is not unattainable.”

Najib faces his toughest elec-tion yet as he looks to counter bad publicity from a corruption scan-dal involving state-owned fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and a growing challenge from Mahathir Mohamad, his former mentor turned rival.

UK to continue farm subsidies for five years after Brexit

AFP

LONDON: The British govern-ment said yesterday it will match European Union subsi-dies for farmers for around five years after Brexit until it puts in place a new system focusing more on environmental protec-tion.

British farmers receive around £3bn (¤3.37bn, $4.06bn) a year from the bloc’s Common Agricultural Policy, of which around three-quarters is deliv-ered through direct payments, according to the National Farm-ers Union (NFU). Environment Secretary Michael Gove said the government would match these so-called Basic Payment

Scheme funds for “a number of years” beyond a two-year tran-sition intended to ease Britain’s withdrawal.

Britain will leave the CAP when it leaves the EU in March 2019, but is seeking a transition period in which the relationship with Brussels will continue on similar terms.

Gove said the CAP was “fun-damentally flawed”, adding: “Paying landowners for the amount of agricultural land they have is unjust, inefficient, and drives perverse outcomes.”

During the extended transi-tion period, the government proposes to reduce the funds given to the largest landowners.

Gold steadies with rates rises in focusREUTERS

LONDON: Gold steadied around a 3-1/2 month high yesterday as prospects for further US rate hikes put a brake on a recent rally, while palladium touched its highest ever levels on tight supplies.

The dollar hit a 3-1/2 month low versus the euro amid opti-mism about the eurozone economy. Gold, which tends to move counter to the greenback, was unable to capitalise on the dollar weakness given its recent gains.

“(Gold) is beginning to look over-valued. Our fair value for gold assuming a (US) rate hike in March and June is around $1,230

so at current prices it looks expensive,” said James Butterfill, head of research at ETF Securi-ties. He added, however: “Gold is being used very much as an insurance policy against geopol-itics and uncertain monetary policy, that’s why we think its likely to continue to range trade between $1,200-1,300 over the next six months.” Spot gold was flat at $1,313.01 an ounce at 1258 GMT, while US gold futures dropped 0.3 percent to $1,314.30 an ounce.

Spot gold marked its highest since September 15 at $1,321.33 on Wednesday, but eased as the dollar recovered after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s December policy meeting

bolstered expectations for more US interest rate hikes. The US currency was also given a boost on Wednesday by strong man-ufacturing and construction data. Gold is highly sensitive to rising US interest rates as they increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion, while boosting the dollar, in which it is priced. “People are looking to lock in some gains after a pretty strong rally over the past weeks,” said ANZ analyst Daniel Hynes.

“Geopolitical issues have cer-tainly been a huge power point of gold’s rally into the year-end ... It is going to be a US dollar type story going forward with mar-kets taking a neutral view,” he said.

19FRIDAY 5 JANUARY 2018 BUSINESS

Hiring by US private sector firms surges

AFP

WASHINGTON: Hiring by private US firms surged in December far more than expected, with nearly all of the gain concentrated in the serv-ices sector, payroll firm ADP reported yesterday.

The service sector has long been a bulwark of the economy, but hiring by providers saw the biggest increase in 18 months, which more than offset the slower hiring by goods-pro-ducing companies.

Total private employment roared back from the slower but still-strong November figures with an increase of 250,000, including 222,000 in the serv-ices sector, according to the report that is closely watched for hints of what is to come in the key government jobs report due out Friday.

The ADP total far surpassed the 190,000 consensus estimate by economists, and could signal a strong December payrolls report.

Especially strong areas were professional and business serv-ices, with 72,000 more employees, and education and health services, which added 50,000. The goods-producing

sector employed 28,000 more workers last month, which was a big drop from the prior month, but fairly strong for the final month of the year, especially with 16,000 added in construction.

But manufacturing employ-ment slowed to just 9,000 after four solid months, although the November gain, initially reported as the strongest on record, was revised down by 10,000 to a more routine 30,000.

“We’ve seen yet another month where the labor market has shown no signs of slowing,” said Ahu Yildirmaz (pictured), vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute.

Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, said the continued hiring trend points to potential concerns about how long the economy can sustain the pace.

“The tight labor market will get even tighter, raising the specter that it will overheat,” he said in a statement.

That could become a concern if rising wages translate to higher inflation, which in turn could cause the Federal Reserve to accelerate increases in the key lending rate. But wages gains have been slow so far.

Total private employment roared back from the slower but still-strong November figures with an increase of 250,000, including 222,000 in the services sector. Mogherini visits Cuba

The European Union’s foreign policy head, Federica Mogherini (right) and Cuban Foreign Trade and Investment Minister Rodrigo Malmierca smile as they shakes hands during a meeting in Havana as part of her official visit to Cuba.

Wealthfront Inc raises $75m BLOOMBERG

NEW YORK: Wealthfront Inc, one of the largest independent digital wealth management startups, just closed a $75m round of funding to help develop new products for its growing client base.

The company has amassed just over $9bn in assets under management since launching in late 2011. While it took 13 months for the firm to get its first $100m in assets under management, it added $100m yesterday alone, Chief Executive Officer Andy Rachleff said in an inter-view. The new round should be “more than enough” to see them through to becoming profitable, he said.

With a client base that skews younger than most online-based advisers—more than three-fourths of cus-tomers are under the age of 45 -- the firm has made a large push into financial plan-ning since its last funding round in 2014. It’s also been focusing on investment man-agement and banking serv-ices, and Rachleff says Wealthfront plans to “even more aggressively expand into those services than we have in the past.”

The expansion as well as the young customer base was a key selling point to bringing on Tiger Global Management as an investor in the latest funding round.

“Wealthfront’s exclusively software-based model gives the company a superior approach to capture the younger, fast-growing market of investors,” said Lee Fixel, a partner at Tiger Global. “We’re excited to support continued growth of the business and help Wealthfront become to the millennial generation what Charles Schwab is to baby boomers.”

VW to build autonomous cars with Silicon Valley firmAFP

FRANKFURT AM MAIN: The world’s largest carmaker Volkswagen said yesterday it would work with Silicon Valley firm Aurora to create self-driving cars, hoping to deploy fleets of autonomous taxis to city streets by 2021.

“With Aurora, VW gains access to an experienced and globally leading development team in software and hardware for driverless vehicles,” the Wolfsburg-based group said in a statement.

Founded by former auton-omous driving chiefs from Google, Tesla and Uber, Aurora makes technology that has already been tested in SUVs from VW subsidiary Audi with “good results,” German business daily Handelsblatt reported.

In 2018, VW plans to outfit scores of cars with the self-driving system as a test fleet, the paper added.

Like other firms in the autonomous driving field, Aurora—labelled “America’s hottest self-driving startup” by Silicon Valley bible Wired mag-azine—has sought out an estab-lished carmaker to make its high-tech visions a reality.

The difficulty for auto new-comers going it alone has been highlighted by Tesla, which has fallen far short of flamboyant billionaire founder Elon Musk’s production targets for its cov-eted mass-market Model 3 elec-tric car.

“Our priority at Aurora is making self-driving vehicles a reality... we know we’ll get there sooner if we enter a partner-ship,” chief executive and Google veteran Chris Urmson (pictured) said.

The Volkswagen deal also offers Aurora an income stream, Handelsblatt reported, first from licensing fees paid by VW and later with a share of the revenue from the hoped-for fleets of autonomous taxis—slated for testing in Silicon Valley and the northern German city of Ham-burg in the coming years.

AFP

SAO TOME: It’s a nation that boasts warm azure seas and dream beaches, a landscape ranging from volcanic rocks to tropical rainforest, and stable democratic rule—yet many people have never heard of it.

Tourists to Sao Tome and Principe, a scattering of islands off the coast of western equato-rial Africa that once served the slave and sugar trades of Portu-guese colonial rulers, are rare.

And though this paradise has been dubbed “the islands in the middle of the world”—because of their proximity to the zero point on GPS, with the prime meridian just six degrees to the west and the equator crossing

one island—it rarely features on any radar for investors.

In 2002, Sao Tome’s then president Fradique de Menezes announced a deal with the United States to create the deep-water port his country lacks and to build a US military base.

Washington never confirmed the plan, despite stakes in the booming oil industry of the region.

Today—like many other African nations—the country has turned to China to help its devel-o p m e n t , e s p e c i a l l y infrastructure.

In December 2016, Sao Tome renewed diplomatic ties with Beijing to the detriment of its rival Taiwan, which had coop-erated with the African

archipelago since 1997. “Our country wanted to join this group of countries that is benefiting from Chinese funding,” Finance Minister Americo De Oliveira Ramos told AFP after the pact with Beijing.

Economic sectors such as health, oil or China’s primary interest here—fisheries—are ear-marked for development, according to the finance minister.

China is also pursuing the deepwater port proposal that went into abeyance as the Pen-tagon waged the Iraq War.

In June, Sao Tome signed an agreement to let Chinese trawlers ply the country’s waters alongside those of Japan and the European Union.

China’s arrival has raised concerns among environmen-talists, particularly opposed to illegal and intensive shark fishing.

But paradise is unspoilt in rural areas that are home to almost 600 recorded species of plant, not to mention those that remain undiscovered and unidentified.

The government is keen to encourage tourism to provide jobs and income—two-thirds of the population live below the poverty line—but without harming the islands’ natural beauty.

Renowned local chef Joao Carlos Silva—also a celebrity in Portugal—is pounding the drum for low-volume ecotourism.

He uses organic produce in his kitchen, most of which he gathers and grows in the garden of his farm.

“We live in a country with an interesting biodiversity and where we can grow crops without chemicals and with tra-ditional techniques,” Silva says, advocating “smart tourism”, a far cry from mass arrivals.

Among the obstacles to growth in tourism, entrepreneurs cite the sky-high cost of lending.

Manuel Nazare, the owner of the Praia Inhame hotel in Porto Alegre, told AFP in 2016: “I borrow money from the local bank at very high rates, 24 percent.”mAnother hindrance is the price of a trip, which makes visiting Sao Tome a luxury for

Europeans though the cost of living is low.

A return air fare from Lisbon costs at least ¤850 (more than $1,000) and connecting flights are sparse, via Gabon, Ghana or Portugal.

While officials plan growth, including expansion of the inter-national airport, the toll of devel-opment on the environment is an issue.

A veteran figure in the tourism sector said he had observed a worrying degrada-tion of the sea floor over the past two decades.

“The big question is whether the public will benefit from development, and whether nature in Sao Tome will be pre-served,” he said.

Tropical island paradise with a cautious eye to growth

Spain leads fall in most bond yieldsREUTERS

LONDON: Spain’s government bond yields were set for their biggest daily fall in almost two months yesterday, after the country successfully navigated its first debt sale of the year.

Most eurozone bond yields turned lower after Spain sold ¤4.6bn worth of medium and long-term debt, towards the top end of the targeted range.

France, also holding its first debt sale of the year, sold just over ¤8bn of long-dated debt although that was at the bottom of a range targeted by the country’s debt agency.

January is traditionally one of the busiest months of the year for

debt issuance in the single-cur-rency bloc and analysts said there had been some cheapening of bond prices ahead of the sales.

“If you look at the Spanish auction it did quite well,” said Martin van Vliet (pictured), senior rates strategist at ING.

“The story I hear is that there is money to be allocated into the bond market at the start of the year, so that’s what we’re seeing.” Ireland raised ¤4bn on Wednesday with a syndicated 10-year bond that covered around a quarter of its 2018 issuance target just three days into the year. It received over ¤14bn worth of orders, lead bankers for the deal said. Bond yields across the single currency bloc were flat to 6 bps lower yesterday, having traded 1-2 basis points higher in early trade.

The periphery led the falls, with Spain’s 10-year bond yield down 5 bps at 1.55 percent and set for its biggest one-day fall since early November. That pushed the gap over German Bund yields to

around 109 bps, its tightest in almost a week.

The gains in Spain’s bond markets spilled over to its periph-eral peers, with Portugal’s 10-year bond yield down 6 bps at 1.94 per-cent. In Germany, the bloc’s benchmark bond issuer, 10-year bond yields were steady at 0.45 percent and holding within sight of recent two-month highs.

Analysts said trading volumes had been slightly lower on Wednesday as sweeping new financial rules, known as the Mar-kets in Financial Instruments Directive II, came into force.

But they added that the strong Irish sale had cheered investors, providing an incentive to push yields down.

More Zurich tax cheats come clean as data sharing loomsREUTERS

ZURICH: Switzerland’s largest and wealthiest canton saw a three-fold rise in the number of tax cheats turning themselves in during 2017, Zurich officials said yesterday, as an interna-tional accord to share informa-tion on offshore wealth takes effect.

The finance department said 6,150 Zurich taxpayers came clean on previously undisclosed assets in 2017, tripling the pre-vious record set in 2016 and helping to disclose 1.3bn Swiss francs ($1.33bn) in hidden wealth so far. The authorities have been able to handle only about half the

cases so far, however, so they expect the sum to rise. Under the Organisation for Economic Coop-eration and Development’s new Automatic Exchange of Informa-tion programme, more than 100 countries are beginning to exchange financial information amid a global clampdown on tax evasion.

The agreement aims to ensure offshore accounts are known to authorities in the country where the account holder owes tax. Switzerland, the world’s biggest centre for man-aging offshore wealth, will get the first information from other countries this year, starting with data collected in 2017.

20 FRIDAY 5 JANUARY 2018BUSINESS

QATAR STOCK EXCHANGE

QE Index 8,630.67 0.26 %

QE Total Return Index 14,473.13 0.26 %

QE Al Rayan Islamic Index 3,502.33 0.99 %

QE All Share Index 2,474.04 0.07 %

QE All Share Banks &

Financial Services 2,706.28 0.38 %

QE All Share Industrials 2,652.48 0.86 %

QE All Share Transportation 1,823.88 2.21 %

QE All Share Real Estate 1,899.48 1.44 %

QE All Share Insurance 3,515.33 2.04 %

QE All Share Telecoms 1,112.33 0.16 %

QE All Share Consumer

Goods & Services 5,042.44 0.60 %

QE INDICES SUMMARY QE MARKET SUMMARY COMPARISON WORLD STOCK INDICES

GOLD AND SILVER

04-01-2018Index 8,630.67

Change 22.36

% 0.26

YTD% 1.26

Volume 8,705,550

Value (QAR) 236,613,705.06

Trades 3,983

Up 22 | Down 18 | Unchanged 003-01-2018Index 8,608.31

Change 11.95

% 0.14

YTD% 1.00

Volume 8,609,834

Value (QAR) 198,802,266.24

Trades 3,739

EXCHANGE RATE

GOLD QR154.2037 per grammeSILVER QR2.0131 per gramme

Index Day’s Close Pt Chg % Chg Year High Year Low

All Ordinaries 6185.4 10.1 0.16 6186.4 6141.4

Cac 40 Index/D 5381.56 50.28 0.94 5347.63 5258.66

Dj Indu Average 24922.68 98.67 0.4 24941.92 24741.7

Hang Seng Inde/D 30736.48 175.53 0.57 30724.32 30028.29

Iseq Overall/D 7103.08 31.85 0.45 7089.51 7021.69

Kse 100 Inx/D 41908.71 364.44 0.88 41819.75 40169.62

S&P 500 Index/D 2713.06 17.25 0.639882 2695.89 2682.36

Currency Buying SellingUS$ QR 3.6305 QR 3.6500

UK QR 4.904 QR 4.9729

Euro QR 4.3632 QR 4.4242

CA$ QR 2.8829 QR 2.9398

Swiss Fr QR 3.7113 QR 3.7637

Yen QR 0.03207 QR 0.03269

Aus$ QR 2.8339 QR 2.8892

Ind Re QR 0.0569 QR 0.058

Pak Re QR 0.0325 QR 0.0333

Peso QR 0.0725 QR 0.074

SL Re QR 0.0235 QR 0.0240

Taka QR 0.0437 QR 0.0445

Nep Re QR 0.0356 QR 0.0363

SA Rand QR 0.2937 QR 0.2996

INTERNATIONAL MARKETS - A LIST OF SHARES FROM THE WORLD

A C C-A/D 1799.65 29.6 13344

Aarti Drugs-B/D 738.4 32.55 31240

Aban Offs-A/D 209 4 491608

Ador Welding-B/D 577.3 -25.75 51117

Aegis Logis-A/D 288.45 2.55 26017

Alembic-B/D 58.6 -1.2 315868

Alok Indus-T/D 4.05 -0.1 1244117

Apollo Tyre-A/D 270.8 0.95 95057

Asahi I Glass-/D 364.7 -1.55 2262

Ashok Leyland-/D 127 2.5 1191113

Bajaj Hold-A/D 2831 1.9 51038

Ballarpur In-B/D 18.5 -0.4 1365238

Banaras Bead-T/D 93.45 -4.9 10812

Bata India-A/D 768 -4.6 60816

Bayer Crop-A/D 4615 110.9 9290

Beml Ltd-A/D 1531.6 8.1 47150

Bhansali Eng-B/D 207.15 9.85 700125

Bharat Bijle-B/D 1411.95 34.65 12262

Bharat Ele-A/D 180 -1.05 306548

Bharatgears-B/D 209 1.5 6912

Bhartiya Int-B/D 512.5 0.15 278

Bhel-A/D 100.75 2.5 1615267

Bom.Burmah-X/D 1608.3 -22.65 17347

Bombay Dyeing-/D 278.5 -0.95 570149

Camph.& All-X/D 1240 2.55 1365

Canfin Homes-A/D 468.75 -7.9 102300

Caprihans-X/D 120 1.1 7342

Castrol India-/D 191.35 0 106574

Century Enka-B/D 341.75 5.85 10702

Century Text-A/D 1435.55 27.8 43250

Chambal Fert-A/D 160.55 0.45 90356

Chola Invest-A/D 1305.6 0.95 9729

Chowgule St-Xt/D 16 0.75 9980

Cimmco-T/D 129.5 4 6528

Cipla-A/D 613.1 6.05 95599

City Union Bk-/D 177.45 -0.7 10437

Colgate-A/D 1091 -5.25 6828

Container Cor-/D 1380 12.35 17918

Dai-X/D 440.2 16.55 5116

Dcm Financia-B/D 3.25 -0.05 9700

Dcm Shram Ind-/D 295 1.15 21580

Dhampur Sugar-/D 215.5 3.15 59554

Dr. Reddy-A/D 2409.5 73.3 50190

E I H-B/D 151.75 2 19170

E.I.D Parry-A/D 379.9 -2.3 30408

Eicher Motor-A/D 28574.7 -219.9 2073

Electrosteel-B/D 42.1 0.05 649536

Emco-B/D 22.3 0.5 146279

Escorts-A/D 787.75 15.3 264417

Eveready Indu-/D 442 3.4 50231

F D C-B/D 243 -1.65 12303

Federal Bank-A/D 108.65 0.85 481233

Ferro Alloys-X/D 15.45 0.7 166468

Finolex-A/D 657.15 1.05 2823

Forbes-B/D 4655.55 -105.1 13909

Gail-A/D 495.9 4.85 71779

Gammon India-T/D 7.63 -0.15 150827

Garden P -B/D 45.8 0.3 72972

Godfrey Phil-A/D 988 3.15 6887

Goodricke-X/D 444.95 -2.25 16439

Goodyear I -B/D 1189.3 79.3 104431

Hcl Infosys-A/D 59.35 -0.3 783037

Him.Fut.Comm-A/D 33.9 0.5 6120360

Hind Motors-B/D 9.35 -0.27 220760

Hind Org Chem-/D 34.2 -1.15 153937

Hind Unilever-/D 1352.05 1.95 40634

Hind.Petrol-A/D 419.15 7.9 185452

Hindalco-A/D 279.8 3.4 689898

Hous Dev Fin-A/D 1705.5 4.6 21299

I F C I-A/D 29.2 0 2491397

Idbi-A/D 64.4 4.95 2418278

India Cement-A/D 190.2 3.3 457244

India Glycol-B/D 492.35 30.8 325700

Indian Hotel-A/D 126 4.55 511223

Indo-A/D 118.15 -0.85 258766

Indusind-A/D 1649.2 18.9 11481

J.B.Chemical-B/D 330 0.1 18414

Jagatjit Ind-X/D 106.95 5.05 26484

Jagson Phar-B/D 45 2.35 199353

Jamnaauto-B/D 80.95 0.1 336519

Jbf Indu-B/D 229.65 0.6 17355

Jct Ltd-X/D 5.05 0.01 2159717

Jenson&Nich.-T/D 7.41 -0.39 32150

Jindal Drill-B/D 179.65 4.95 37452

Jktyre&Ind-A/D 150.8 2.25 346279

Jmc Projects-B/D 638.9 9.35 4212

Kabra Extr-B/D 135.55 7.75 94456

Kajaria Cer-A/D 743.6 7.45 40524

Kakatiya Cem-B/D 402.15 6.55 17996

Kalpat Power-B/D 486.05 4.7 8111

Kalyani Stel-B/D 405.7 7.65 44591

Kanoria Chem-B/D 101.8 4.85 123186

Kg Denim-X/D 77 3.4 56552

Kilburnengg-X/D 108.1 3.55 34668

Kinetic Eng-Xt/D 82.45 3.9 6843

Kopran-B/D 72.5 0.9 111031

Lakshmi Elec-X/D 821 1.8 3953

Lakshmi Mach-A/D 5944.5 140.6 1090

Laxmi Prcisn-B/D 47.9 3.95 19628

Lloyd Metal-X/D 19.15 0.6 233586

Lumax Ind-B/D 2128.15 30 3381

Lupin-A/D 877.5 -0.2 195093

Lyka Labs-B/D 69.45 5.6 403407

Mafatlal Ind-X/D 326 20.05 12131

Mah.Seamless-B/D 530 -2.55 48431

Mangalam Cem-B/D 404.95 14.3 17422

Maral Overs-B/D 54.1 -1.15 24617

Mastek-B/D 381.7 4.35 41828

Max Financial-/D 588.65 5.3 1136263

Mrpl-A/D 127.8 1.6 194972

Nagreeka Ex-T/D 43 0.95 6334

Nagreeka Ex-T/D 43 0.95 6334

Nahar Spg.-B/D 127.65 0.9 41885

Nation Alum -A/D 88 1.9 1427666

Navneet Edu-B/D 157.45 -0.7 7488

Neuland Lab-B/D 869.55 -5.5 5188

Nrb Bearings-B/D 170 5 36803

O N G C-A/D 199.35 5.65 1048166

Oil Country-B/D 62.3 -1.9 111044

Onward Tech-B/D 133.25 -1.2 8821

Orchid Pharm-T/D 21.25 1 688181

Orient Hotel-B/D 42.7 1.1 68896

Orient.Carb.-B/D 1443.1 89.85 49413

Orient.Carb.-B/D 1443.1 89.85 49413

Patspin India-/D 31.05 -0.1 8371

Punjab Chem.-X/D 471 -3 1594

Radico Khait-A/D 307.75 10.45 421516

Rallis India-A/D 273.55 3.85 101413

Rallis India-A/D 273.55 3.85 101413

Reliance Indus/D 621.2 -19.4 219628

Ruchi Soya-B/D 19.1 -0.55 816451

Saur.Cem-X/D 89.45 1.6 156390

Savita Oil-B/D 1600 -35.7 1493

Sterling Tool-/D 425 -4.45 1631

Tanfac Indu-Xt/D 142.8 6.8 11494

Tanfac Indu-Xt/D 142.8 6.8 11494

Thirumalai-B/D 2281.55 155.7 89475

Til Ltd.-B/D 651.45 33.25 11786

Tinplate-B/D 276.45 16.85 652813

Ucal Fuel-B/D 299.3 5.6 48880

Ucal Fuel-B/D 299.3 5.6 48880

Ultramarine-X/D 382 13.35 33113

Unitech P -B/D 9.53 -1.05 18154721

Univcable-B/D 183.25 4.65 27631

3I Group/D 927.2 4.6 237223

Assoc.Br.Foods/D 2822 -15 166994

Barclays/D 204.8 1.1 10947765

Bp/D 527.5 3.3 9521234

Brit Am Tobacc/D 4926 -10.5 582227

Bt Group/D 270.75 -1.65 2450186

Centrica/D 141.5 1.8 3869513

Gkn/D 323.1 4.8 1656745

Hsbc Holdings/D 762.2 -1.2 3954078

Kingfisher/D 343.7 1.5 1584515

Land Secs./D 981.4 -13.5 526998

Legal & Genera/D 271.4 2 2549847

Lloyds Bnk Grp/D 67.95 0.48 30286221

Marks & Sp./D 312.9 -7.6 3944100

Next/D 4757 2 373543

Pearson/D 737.2 1 401768

Prudential/D 1892.5 7.5 794367

Rank Group/D 243.5 0 20232

Rentokil Initi/D 305.9 0 881067

Rolls Royce Pl/D 857.8 6.6 693450

Rsa Insrance G/D 619 3.6 489501

Sainsbury(J)/D 243.7 0.2 1563695

Schroders/D 3525 4 43253

Severn Trent/D 2121 -5 203860

Smith&Nephew/D 1257.5 -7.5 625419

Smiths Group/D 1514.5 14.5 362826

Standrd Chart /D 791.8 14.3 2267348

Tate & Lyle/D 685.4 0.8 231832

Tesco/D 210.1 0.5 3991168

Unilever/D 4057.5 -1 561764

United Util Gr/D 802.6 -2.6 509294

Vodafone Group/D 233.4 -0.05 8233592

Whitbread/D 4007 33 191961

COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME NAME CHG TRADED

COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME NAME CHG TRADED

COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME NAME CHG TRADED

COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME NAME CHG TRADED

COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME NAME CHG TRADED

LONDON