Political Events

• Amid King Salman's visit to Egypt, Egypt and Saudi Arabia agreed to maritime borders that handed ownership of disputed Red Sea islands Tiran and Sanafir over to Riyadh. The agreement will be presented to parliament for ratification.
• The investigations concerning Fly Dubai's airplane crash in Russia has revealed that the crash was caused due to pilot's error.
• In two separate accidents, five Egyptian soldiers; a military officer and a civilian woman were killed and 15 civilians were injured after 2 armored personnel carriers exploded in Sinai.
• Qatar's foreign minister announced that Qatar's ruling family member who was kidnapped in Iraq last year along with 26 other Qataris has been freed.

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• .KWSE witnessed a significant increase in banking sector led by Ithmaar Bank, National Bank of Kuwait and Boubyan Bank while telecommunication sector increased led by Ooredoo and Zain.
• .QSI banking sector declined led by Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB).
• .ADI telecommunication sector declined led by Etisalat and banking sector led by Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB). On the other hand, real estate sector increased slightly led by Aldar Properties.
 

	Index Watchlist	Weekly % Change	YTD% Change
Egypt	.EGX30	-0.6%	6.7%
	Construction & Materials	-2.5%	-19.9%
	Telecommunication	0.3%	33.0%
	Banking	2.8%	2.6%
KSA	.TASI	0.6%	-9.5%
	Petrochemicals	1.0%	-5.3%
	Banks & Financial Services	-0.1%	-9.9%
	Telecommunication & Information	0.7%	-1.6%
Kuwait	.KWSE	0.0%	-6.9%
	Banking	1.04%	-9.8%
	Telecommunication	1.7%	3.2%
	Financial Services	1.1%	-4.3%
	Real Estate	0.3%	-12.4%
	Industrials	-1.7%	-7.2%
Qatar	.QSI	-2.0%	-2.5%
	Banking & Financial Services	-2.0%	-2.4%
	Industrials	-3.0%	-2.1%
	Real Estate	-2.2%	5.9%
	Telecommunication	-1.1%	18.6%
UAE, Abu Dhabi	.ADI	-0.9%	1.0%
	Banking	-0.7%	-6.2%
	Telecommunication	-1.9%	12.7%
	Real Estate	0.6%	20.1%
UAE, Dubai	.DFMGI	0.9%	7.5%
	Banking	0.2%	0.8%
	Real Estate & Construction	1.3%	10.8%
	Investments & Financial Services	4.7%	13.1%
	Telecommunication	-3.1%	21.6%

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• Qatar National Bank (QNB) announced that it had agreed to buy Turkey's Finansbank, the Gulf Arab region's largest lender, from National Bank of Greece for 2.7 BN EUR after it had received the approval of Qatar's central bank and Turkey's Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency upon the deal.
• The Dubai-based property developer, Emaar properties, has announced that its group chief executive director - Abdulla Lahej- has discontinued his role.
• Saudi's developer, ACWA power, has reported its plan to invest around 11 BN USD in Egypt's power generating sector in the coming five years to add around 10,000 megawatts to Egypt's national electricity grid.
• The Moroccan industry minister has announced that the French carmaker Renault and component suppliers are planning to invest 1.04 BN USD in Morocco to build an "industry ecosystem".
• The Bank of England has fined QIB (UK) -a subsidiary of Qatar Islamic Bank- nearly 2 MM USD upon its failings to report its financial resources to the regulator in 2011 and 2012.
• Three major British banks -HSBC, RBC, and Barclays- are planning to close about 400 of their branches in 2016. It is worth mentioning that, the number of branches operated by the major banking groups in the UK has halved in the last 20 years.
• Qatar National Bank (QNB) has registered a 7.1% rise in net profits in the first quarter of 2016 reaching 2.9 BN QAR.
• Oman's largest lender, Bank Muscat, has received all regulatory approvals to open a representative office in Iran to be one of the first foreign financial firms to establish a presence in Iran since the international sanctions.

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