Category: Industry

Gold prices fell more than 1% on Thursday as investors booked profits ahead of US economic data that could offer more cues on when the central bank will cut interest rates this year and by how much. Spot gold fell 0.9 % to $ 2377.29 per ounce. US gold futures dropped 1.6% to $2,376.70. Among other metals, spot silver fell 2.8 % to $ 28.18 per ounce on the day. Platinum eased 0.8 % to $ 940.40 and palladium slipped 1.5 % to $ 918.63. Source: Qatar News Agency

Doha: In line with the Third Financial Sector Strategy, the FinTech Strategy, and Qatar Central Banks endeavor to regulate and develop the financial sector and enhance the FinTech ecosystem in the country, Qatar Central Bank has issued the "Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) Guideline" aimed at regulating the use of DLT in the financial sector. By issuing this Guideline, Qatar Central Bank aims to establish an appropriate regulatory framework for financial institutions in the country in order to develop smart solutions as the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) provides the opportunity for financial institutions to develop their services in various ways. DLT provide a transparent and secure platform for recording transactions, enabling instant settlement and reducing the need for intermediaries. Its benefits include increased efficiency, lower costs, enhanced transparency, and improved security, ultimately streamlining processes and fostering greater trust in the financial sector. The Qatar Central Bank a ffirms its ongoing endeavor to provide outstanding initiatives that help create a favorable environment for the financial technology sector in the country to grow as this Guideline supports the financial sector development in line with Qatars Third National Development Strategy deemed to be the final stage towards achieving Qatar National Vision 2030, which aims to build a digital economy while stimulating the widespread adoption of technology and encouraging technological innovations in various areas, including the financial sector. The Guideline can be viewed on Qatar Central Banks official website. Source: Qatar News Agency

Doha: The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) index closed Thursday's trading session with a decrease of 39.09 points, or 0.39 percent, settling at 10,098.36 points. During the session, 100,123,121 shares were traded, with a total value of QR 300,134,561.768, resulting from the execution of 12,055 transactions across all sectors. In today's session, the shares of 13 companies increased, and the shares of 33 other companies decreased, while 3 companies maintained their previous closing prices. The market capitalization at the end of the trading session stood at QR 584,943,710,515.270, compared to QR 586,134,422,047.820 in the previous session. Source: Qatar News Agency

China's major state-owned commercial banks announced on Thursday reductions in deposit interest rates. The one-year fixed-term deposit interest rate was cut by 10 basis points to 1.35 percent, according to the official deposit interest rates released by the country's "big four" commercial banks, namely, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China and China Construction Bank. After the reductions, the demand deposit interest rate of the "big four" commercial banks is 0.15 percent. The deposit interest rates with terms of 2, 3 and 5 years are 1.45 percent, 1.75 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively. This was the first deposit interest rate cut for the "big four" commercial banks in 2024, with previous cuts implemented in June, September and December last year. Analysts believe the move reflects the effective role of the market-based adjustment mechanism of deposit interest rates and will strengthen the market-oriented pricing ability of commercial banks. It is exp ected that joint-stock commercial banks will also lower deposit interest rates in the coming days. Source: Qatar News Agency

Doha: The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) index wrapped up this week's trading down by 0.39 percent to stand at 10,098 points, while achieving a positive weekly performance of around 0.64 percent, achieving 1.3 percent gains since the beginning of July. In this context, financial advisor Ramzi Qasmieh told Qatar News Agency that the weekly closing was in the green zone for the 7th week out of eight, while the index has been trading for nearly three weeks within a horizontal range between 10,000 and 10,200 points. Qasimia noted a decrease in the levels of liquidity and trading due to the holiday season and the lack of new liquidity entering the market. He indicated that the shares, or the majority of them, did not react to the positive performance of companies' profits, adding that the combined profits of companies that announced their results up to the present time recorded a growth of around 7.7 percent. As for the weekly sectoral performance, the financial advisor pointed out that the telecommunications secto r index occupied the forefront with gains of approximately 1.73 percent, followed by the financial sector with gains of approximately 1.6 percent, while the real estate sector declined by about 1.67 percent. In a related context, he added that the performance of the general index was affected by the trading of the shares of the Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) and Dukhan Bank without the eligibility for interim distributions, which put pressure on the index's performance in today's session. However, the rise in the shares of Industries Qatar and Qatar National Bank (QNB) at the end of the session mitigated or reduced the impact of the decline in QIB's shares at the end of the session. Regarding the best-performing stocks during the current week, Qasmieh pointed out the increase recorded by QLM stock by 4.74 percent, then Baladna by 4.1 percent, then QNB by around 3.3 percent. As for the stocks that recorded the greatest declines, the shares of Ezdan Company settled in the last three places at 4.16 percent, Doha Ban k at 4.10 percent, and Qatari Investors Group at 3.64 percent. Source: Qatar News Agency

South Korea's economy retreated in the second quarter of the year as weaker domestic demand clouded recovery prospects despite robust exports, South Korean central bank data showed Thursday. The country's real gross domestic product, a key measure of economic growth, contracted 0.2 percent on-quarter in the April-June period, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK), Yonhap reported. The second-quarter figure compares with the 1.3 percent on-quarter expansion in the January-March period, which marked the highest since the fourth quarter in 2021, when the economy expanded 1.4 percent. On a yearly basis, South Korea's economy advanced 2.3 percent in the second quarter, slowing from 3.3 percent growth for the first quarter of the year. The country's exports climbed 0.9 percent in the second quarter, slowing from the previous quarter's 1.8 percent gain, while imports rose 1.2 percent, shifting from a 0.4 percent dip the previous quarter. Private spending contracted 0.2 percent on-quarter in the April-June period, compared with a 1.3 percent advance the previous quarter, the central bank said. For 2024, the bank expects the economy to rebound slightly, at 2.5 percent. Source: Qatar News Agency

The US economy grew by 2.8 percent in the second quarter of this year, after growing by 1.4 percent year-on-year in the first quarter. Data from the US Department of Commerce released Thursday showed that the US economy grew more than expected during the second quarter of this year, mainly reflecting increased consumer spending, investment in private inventory, and investment in non-residential fixed assets. As for inflation, the ministry's report stated that the consumer spending price index rose by 2.6 percent during the second quarter, compared to a 3.4 percent annual increase during the first quarter. It pointed out that the core price index, which excludes the most volatile commodities such as food and energy, rose by 2.9 percent during the second quarter, compared to 3.7 percent during the first quarter. Source: Qatar News Agency

Manama, Mazad a local portfolio company of Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company "Mumtalakat", announced its strategic partnership with Kanoo Real Estate, a subsidiary of the Yusuf bin Ahmed Kanoo Group, one of the region's prominent and influential business conglomerates. Kanoo Real Estate will provide Mazad with access to its diverse portfolio of high-value assets and equipment to expand the platform's asset inventory and strengthen its position as the premier destination for auctions in Bahrain and the wider Gulf region. Talal Alaraifi, CEO of Mazad, said: "We are thrilled to be partnering with Kanoo Real Estate, which is a part of the Yusuf Bin Ahmed Kanoo Group, a pioneer in the regional business landscape," "Their extensive asset and business portfolio will be invaluable as we continue to grow our network and bring even more exceptional offerings to discerning buyers and investors in Bahrain and beyond," Alaraifi said. The partnership serves both organisations by enabling them to benefit from each othe r's established relations and industry insights. This collaboration also enhances the reach, variety, and quality of Mazad's auctioning services by expanding their capabilities and enhancing operational effectiveness. Talal Fawzi Kanoo, Chairman of Kanoo Real Estate, said: "We are thrilled to collaborate with Mazad, to further elevate the auction experience in the Kingdom of Bahrain." "Through this partnership with Mazad, who continue to set the standard in the auctioning industry, we aim to enhance the local auction market by offering some of the most sought-after essential assets through an exceptional auctioning platform," Kanoo added. Mohamed Abdulelah Al Kooheji, highlighted that the strategic partnership aims to enhance the auction experience by introducing a cutting-edge platform, offering top-tier assets to the local market through an innovative and user-friendly auction platform. Source: Bahrain News Agency