Press Arabia

Doha: The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) index closed this week with a 0.42 percent increase, adding 44.02 points to reach 10,509 points, compared to last week’s close. The rise was supported by gains in four sectors, led by the banking and financial services sector, which posted a 1.1 percent increase, followed by the transport sector with a 0.64 percent rise.

Youssef Bouhlaika, a financial market analyst, told Qatar News Agency that he expects the QSE index to surpass the 11,000-point mark in the coming period, driven by strong early corporate earnings reports, including a 7 percent rise in net profits for Qatar National Bank (QNB) in the first nine months of 2024.

Bouhlaika noted that the QSE is likely to maintain its current level above 10,500 points and could later rise to 10,800 points, before stabilizing and eventually breaking through to 11,000 points, supported by the resilience of the national economy.

He advised investors to hold onto their shares and avoid hasty selling, while also exercising cauti
on due to ongoing regional events.

Bouhlaika highlighted that the QSE index has risen by 2.4 percent over the past 30 days, but is still down 3 percent from its highest point in 52 weeks, recorded on Dec. 31, 2023, and 14.7 percent from its lowest point on May 30, 2024.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Gold prices nudged higher on Thursday, while traders await key US inflation data to gauge the Federal Reserve’s future monetary policy stance.

Spot gold was up 0.2% at $2,613.70 per ounce, after easing for the previous six sessions.

US gold futures gained 0.2% at $2,630.80.

The US Consumer Price Index (CPI) for September is due later today and Producer Price Index (PPI) data on Friday.

Spot silver edged 0.1% higher to $30.48 per ounce. Platinum added 1.5% to $959.56 and palladium firmed 1.0% to $1,049.50.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Price of Kuwaiti oil dropped USD 1.50 to settle on USD 77.62 per barrel on Wednesday compared to USD 79.12 pb on Tuesday, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) said on Thursday.

Globally, price of Brent crude dropped by 60 cents to USD 78.58 pb, while West Texas Intermediate crude fell by 33 cents to USD 73.24 pb, according to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).

Source: Qatar News Agency

Doha: The price of gold in the Qatari market declined by 1.59 percent during the current week, to reach USD 2612.50000 per ounce, according to data issued by Qatar National Bank (QNB).

The data showed that the price gold declined from USD 2654.74510 per ounce recorded last Sunday.

The data also indicated that the rest of the precious metals recorded a weekly decline, with silver dropping by 5.27 percent to USD 30.52000 per ounce, down from USD 32.22000 recorded on Sunday, and platinum by 3.34 percent to USD 961.75000 per ounce, compared to USD 995.00000 per ounce at the beginning of the week.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Japan’s wholesale price inflation edged up in September, due mainly to higher prices of everyday food items such as rice.

The Bank of Japan said the preliminary Producer Price Index was up 2.8 percent from a year earlier, a slightly greater increase than the 2.6 percent rise marked in August, Japan’s NHK Radio reported.

The index measures the prices companies charge each other for goods and services.

BOJ officials attribute the higher rice prices to rising costs of transportation and fertilizers. Egg prices also went up amid unseasonably hot weather.

The BOJ figures show September import prices decreased 2.6 percent in yen terms from a year earlier, marking their first decline since January. Officials cited a stronger yen and cheaper crude oil.

October has brought a spate of price hikes for various goods and services across Japan.

Central bank officials are keeping a close watch on whether rising labor costs will be reflected in the prices businesses charge each other.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Doha: October 06 – Visit Qatar hosted a two-day workshop for local stakeholders from the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) industry.

The event aimed to equip participants with essential tools and insights to effectively position Qatar as a premier destination for business events and to enhance their bidding strategies for international gatherings as well as educate international MICE buyers on the varied assets of Qatar for events.

An insights workshop gathered more than stakeholders from the hospitality sector, including Destination Management Companies (DMCs), hotels and special event venues to explore collaborative approaches for attracting business events to Qatar. Attendees gained valuable insights into the key characteristics of the Chinese, Indian, and Russian MICE markets and guidance to support a successful business event bid and a compelling pitch.

The full-day program on the 23rd for international MICE buyers included panel discussions featuring key figures from Qatar’s M
ICE ecosystem, as well as one-on-one meetings to explore future business opportunities.

Visit Qatar’s strategy underscores MICE as a priority pillar in driving growth within the country’s tourism sector. By increasing the number business events, Qatar aims to strengthen its position as a leading global hub for the MICE industry. With well-developed infrastructure, a business-friendly environment, and state-of-the-art venues, Qatar has established itself as a premier destination, renowned for its capacity to host world class events.

Source: Qatar News Agency

European stocks ended with small gains Monday.

The Stoxx 600 index closed 0.1 percent higher, with the banking sector leading the sectoral gains, but the real estate sector fell 1.4 percent and the utilities sector fell 0.5 percent.

German stocks fell 0.1 percent after factory orders fell more than expected in August.

The German Economy Ministry separately said that the European Union’s largest economy is expected to shrink by 0.2 percent in 2024, for the second year in a row.

Among individual stocks, Orsted jumped 6 percent after Equinor bought a stake worth about $2.5 billion in the Danish wind energy company, and Equinor’s shares fell 3.4 percent.

Source: Qatar News Agency

European stocks slipped on Monday as the initial euphoria over strong US jobs data last week faded and rate-sensitive sectors such as real estate and utilities came under pressure from higher bond yields.

The STOXX 600 index (.STOXX), opens new tab was down 0.2 percent, with real estate (.SX86P), opens new tab and utilities (.SX6P), opens new tab sectors losing 1.1 percent and 0.5 percent.

Among stocks, Richemont (CFR.S), opens new tab rose 1.3 percent.

Shares of Heidelberg Materials (HEIG.DE), opens new tab climbed 5.6 percent following a report that the Adani Group is in talks to buy the German company’s Indian cement operations a deal that could be worth about USD 1.2 billion.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Doha: Qatar Finance and Business Academy (QFBA) launched the first edition of the annual “Finance Researcher Award.” The Finance Researcher Award aims to encourage and support Qatar’s next generation of financial researchers, promote an academic excellence, creativity, and innovation culture, and provide a platform for young researchers to present their research and contribute to the growth and development of Qatar’s financial and banking sectors.

The award seeks to honor undergraduate and master’s students in Qatar for their unique and significant research, with a specific category for Qatari nationals. Nominations for the award will be open from Oct. 15 to Dec. 1, 2024.

CEO of QFBA Dr. Khalifa Al Salahi Al Yafei said that the First Annual Finance Research Award will foster a culture of innovation and promote research within Qatar’s financial and banking sector, while also supporting the forthcoming generation of financial experts who are pivotal in this rapidly evolving field.

HE CEO of Doha Bank Group S
heikh Abdulrahman bin Fahd bin Faisal Al-Thani said that the bank’s sponsorship of this award is consistent with its plans and commitments to invest in young national talents within the financial and banking sectors. He also emphasized the banks commitment to efforts designed to furnish young professionals with critical knowledge and requisite skills to prepare and qualify them for the future.

The winning projects will get certificates and cash awards, and an award will be conferred for the best research project by a Qatari student.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Doha: QatarEnergy has announced the launch of ‘Tawteen’ initiative’s enhanced In-Country Value (ICV) program, a move that will further align it with the objectives of the State of Qatar to enhance the sustainable development of the local economy.

The enhanced ICV Program is the result of strategic collaboration and alignment with key stakeholders, mainly the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, as well as suppliers, energy champions, and industry experts.

Building on the foundations laid by the original ICV program launched in 2019, this enhanced version brings forward significant improvements that make the program more inclusive, adaptable, and beneficial for all participants.

One of the Program’s key amendments is the refined ICV formula, which is engineered to provide a wider scope of the local contribution for all companies. A bonus scheme was also introduced to reward companies for their positive contributions in selected fields, hence, ensuring an accurate reflection of each
company’s impact on Qatar’s economy.

The enhanced ICV Program also introduces the ICV+ policy, which is specifically designed to provide targeted support to local manufacturers. This policy underscores the program’s emphasis on developing the capabilities of Qatar’s manufacturing sector, enabling local companies to meet the evolving demands of the industry and contribute to the country’s economic growth.

To further empower micro and small enterprises, the Program introduces a Blanket Score policy offering a standardized ICV score that supports their competitiveness in the market. Additionally, a simplified certification process is introduced to alleviate the administrative and financial burden for micro and small enterprises who work directly with the Energy sector. These introductions underscore QatarEnergy’s commitment to fostering an inclusive local supply chain, where businesses of all sizes can thrive.

The enhanced ICV program considers increasing the number of ICV certification bodies interested in j
oining the program, provided they meet the specified criteria. This will contribute to improving the efficiency of procedures and providing multiple options for suppliers seeking to obtain ICV certification.

The ICV program has made significant progress in the last few years, increasing the local contribution of the Energy sector from 14 percent to 28.5 percent and creating around 7,000 jobs.

Source: Qatar News Agency