Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/401761
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 22 OCTOBER 2014 11 Business Today www.creditinfo.com.mt info@creditinfo.com.mt Tel: 2131 2344 Your Local Partner for Credit Risk Management Solutions Supporting you all the way Summit of iGaming welcoming over 1,300 delegates Exchange Rates Issue Date: 21-Oct-14 Set: 2 Issue Time: 14:38:09 Value Date: 23/10/2014 Except SGD, THB value 24/10/2014 and HUD value 27/10/14 Currency Cash Cash Non-Cash Non-Cash Revaluation Buying Selling Selling Buying British Pound (GBP) 0.8240 0.7658 0.7698 0.8092 0.7895 United States Dollar (USD) 1.3327 1.2385 1.2449 1.3087 1.2768 Swiss Franc (CHF) 1.2597 1.1707 1.1767 1.2371 1.2069 Australian Dollar (AUD) 1.5106 1.4039 1.4111 1.4835 1.4473 Canadian Dollar (CAD) 1.4978 1.3920 1.3991 1.4709 1.4350 Japanese Yen (JPY) 142.1900 132.1431 132.8243 139.6358 136.2300 Danish Krone (DKK) 7.7800 7.2300 7.2600 7.6400 7.4500 Swedish Kronor (SEK) 9.6000 8.9200 8.9700 9.4300 9.2000 Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) 10.3331 9.6030 9.6525 10.1475 9.9000 Norwegian Krone (NOK) 8.7300 8.1100 8.1500 8.5700 8.3600 New Zealand Dollar (NZD) 1.6661 1.5484 1.5564 1.6362 1.5963 Singapore Dollar (SGD) 1.6940 1.5743 1.5824 1.6636 1.6230 South African Rand (ZAR) 14.6220 13.5888 13.6589 14.3593 14.0091 Czech Koruna (CZK) 28.8100 26.7800 26.9149 28.2951 27.6050 Polish Zloty (PLN) 4.4000 4.0900 4.1142 4.3252 4.2197 Hungarian Forint (HUF) 337.1317 288.0931 298.8197 314.1493 306.4852 Moroccan Dirham (MAD) 12.1990 10.4246 ********* ********* 11.0900 Tunisian Dinar (TND) 2.3900 2.2200 2.2326 2.3470 2.2898 United Arab Emirates Dirham (AED) 5.1586 4.4082 4.5724 4.8068 4.6896 Bahraini Dinar (BHD) 0.5295 0.4525 ********* ********* 0.4814 Gibraltar Pound (GIP) 0.8682 0.7419 ********* ********* 0.7893 Israeli New Sheqel (ILS) 5.2375 4.4757 ********* ********* 4.7614 Kuwaiti Dinar (KWD) 0.4057 0.3467 ********* ********* 0.3688 Saudi Riyal (SAR) 5.2701 4.5035 ********* ********* 4.7910 Turkish New Lira (TRY) ********* ********* 2.7870 2.9300 2.8585 Thailand BAHT (THB) ********* ********* 40.1769 42.2372 41.207 Chinese Renminbi (CNY Onshore) ********* ********* 7.6196 8.0104 7.8150 Chinese Renminbi (CNH Offshore) ********* ********* 7.6274 8.0186 7.8230 All Chinese Renminbi transactions, irrespective of amounts, are to be referred to Branches or Treasury. Rates shown here are indicative only and are subject to change without notice. The final exchange rate offered by the bank /applied to your transaction may vary from the rate indicated here. Our staff at the Branches or Treasury will be pleased to provide you with exchange rates for your specific transactions. The rates quoted above are against the euro. 17.51 17.58 1252.10 1252.70 GOLD D + 1 SEPA payments and payments sent to countries and in the currencies regulated by the Payments Services Directive (PSD) D + 2 All Other Currencies US Dollars per TROY ounce Value Date Currency Same Day EUR/GBP/USD/CAD SILVER PUBLIC Regular market closed –21/10/2014 Symbol Code Volume Traded Value Traded Trades High Price Low Price Open Price Close Price Change Twap ● 6PM 2976 2142.720 1 0.720 0.720 0.720 0.720 0.000 0.720 ▲ BOV 3101 6968.510 4 2.251 2.245 2.245 2.251 0.011 2.247 ▲ GO 39329 105008.990 15 2.700 2.630 2.630 2.700 0.030 2.670 ▲ HSB 53500 107173.820 7 2.030 1.990 1.990 2.000 0.001 2.003 ▲ LOM 10154 17363.340 1 1.710 1.710 1.710 1.710 0.010 1.710 ● MIA 1400 3290.000 1 2.350 2.350 2.350 2.350 0.000 2.350 ● MLT 10000 5600.000 1 0.560 0.560 0.560 0.560 0.000 0.560 ▲ MTP 5821 6519.520 2 1.120 1.120 1.120 1.120 0.011 1.120 ● PZC 52710 32153.100 5 0.610 0.610 0.610 0.610 0.000 0.610 ▼ G14B 20968 21068.640 2 100.480 100.480 100.480 100.480 -0.040 100.480 ▼ G15B 663593 699577.700 6 105.450 105.420 105.440 105.420 -0.020 105.420 ▼ G16A 19024 20749.470 3 109.070 109.070 109.070 109.070 -0.020 109.070 ● G16B 463976 506986.580 2 109.270 109.270 109.270 109.270 0.000 109.270 ▼ G17C 10000 11125.000 1 111.250 111.250 111.250 111.250 -0.020 111.250 ▼ G18A 16306 20581.430 1 126.220 126.220 126.220 126.220 -0.040 126.220 ▼ G19A 12036 15239.990 3 126.620 126.620 126.620 126.620 -0.150 126.620 ▼ G20B 60400 71211.600 2 117.900 117.900 117.900 117.900 -0.230 117.900 ▼ G21A 465620 569918.880 3 122.400 122.400 122.400 122.400 -0.070 122.400 ▼ G22A 49617 61639.200 3 124.230 124.230 124.230 124.230 -0.090 124.230 ▼ G22B 30600 36184.500 3 118.250 118.250 118.250 118.250 -0.070 118.250 ▼ G23A 20965 26948.410 1 128.540 128.540 128.540 128.540 -0.370 128.540 ▼ G28A 19000 23554.300 4 123.970 123.970 123.970 123.970 -0.060 123.970 ▼ G28B 162700 195890.800 9 120.400 120.400 120.400 120.400 -0.100 120.400 ▼ G29A 3000 3807.600 1 126.920 126.920 126.920 126.920 -0.080 126.920 ▼ G30A 144900 185674.860 4 128.140 128.140 128.140 128.140 -0.080 128.140 ▼ G31A 44000 55629.200 4 126.430 126.430 126.430 126.430 -0.040 126.430 ▼ G32A 10500 12401.550 3 118.110 118.110 118.110 118.110 -0.070 118.110 ▼ G32B 110000 126781.000 7 115.260 115.210 115.260 115.210 -0.120 115.260 ▼ G33A 118600 133086.920 8 112.220 112.170 112.210 112.170 -0.120 112.210 ▼ G34A 231000 253348.600 12 109.720 109.670 109.720 109.670 -0.110 109.670 ▼ CF19A 10000 10319.000 1 103.190 103.190 103.190 103.190 -0.010 103.190 ▲ GC16A 3000 2880.000 1 96.000 96.000 96.000 96.000 1.000 96.000 ● IG19A 17800 18513.780 1 104.010 104.010 104.010 104.010 0.000 104.010 An unprecedented Summit of iG- aming in Malta, SIGMA, is fast be- coming one of the largest dedicated Remote Gaming exhibitions and conferences, with over 1,300 del- egates, 60+ top-level speakers and about 70 exhibitors. SIGMA is set for 30 October 2 November 2014. Some may ask, "but why Malta?" The answer is simple. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean, in close proximity with the African, European and Asian continents, the island of Malta is host to an excess of 250 igaming companies, over 450 licenses and scores of companies in line to become regulated. The market employs a solid workforce of 8,000; making Malta an ideal platform to host such an event. With an attractive lotteries and gaming jurisdiction as well as a solid, EU-approved taxation system, the country is also host to many quality affiliates, expats who have settled in Malta, who have decided to combine an ideal working climate with unrivalled quality of life. SIGMA 2014 will feature a five star, state-of-the-art exhibition space for both interactive gaming suppliers looking for new and existing operators as well as operators looking to attract affiliates and marketing partners. The conference is two-tracked, with track one targeting suppliers and c-level executives, focusing on remote and digital gaming global regulation, the legal landscape, best practices in operations and marketing and the convergence between interactive and land-based gaming. The second track is targeted for affiliates and SEO and is focused on remote gaming acquisition and will feature SEO professionals, latest e-marketing techniques, industry trends, affiliate, social media marketing tactics and more. The goal is to bring together the entire gaming community, from affiliates and operators through to regulators and vendors. Markets took a breather Friday, and to some extent yesterday too, after what had been a painful week for most asset classes, primarily High Yield Credit and Equity markets, as a series of back-to- back negative sessions triggered core European government bond yields to reach lows and a subsequent sharp widening of peripheral Eurozone bond spreads. Investor's major concerns, perhaps the reason behind this sell-off, has been the suspicion that the global economy seems to be losing momentum at a time when some central banks were indicating that the interest rate normalisation phase was/is just about to commence. The fulcrum of these somewhat exacerbated moves has been the Eurozone, mainly on the back of the heightened vulnerability of the economy to possible external shock, coupled with limited willingness by central governments to take any form of policy reaction. Investors' expectations of a gradual economic recovery in the region during the second half of 2014 have faded following declines in the leading indicators and as well as industrial production. Sentiment (and consequently economic activity) has been dragged lower by the consequences of the Ukrainian/Russian crisis, coupled with the negative sentiment and economic data prints coming from China. This week was testament to how vulnerable the economy really is to any form of external shocks, and this seems to be worrying investors. Furthermore, there seems to be little room, fiscally, for the Eurozone to work around, lending itself in the main to its high level of public debt. EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's has made the commissions' plans of boosting infrastructure spending, however, it is not yet clear how such a plan would be financed. On a national scale, any recent attempts by France and Italy to move away from fiscal consolidation have been met with criticism from the EC as the draft budgets of both countries risk being rejected by the European Commission. Meanwhile, markets appear to have growing doubts on the willingness and possibly the ability of the ECB to respond effectively to the recent shockwaves that have hit the economy. Indications point towards the ECB' planning to increase its balance sheet back towards 2012 levels in the form of asset-backed securities (ABS) and covered bonds purchases. In fact, the market seems to be doubting the ECB's plan of achieving price stability; as Eurozone bond spreads, which had remained remarkably stable, have recently widened and not only in the Eurozone periphery. At these cross-roads, it is difficult to see how the ECB can avoid a broader programme of quantitative easing as the longer the current turmoil persists, the more likely we are to get a "we'll do whatever it takes" type of commitment from ECB's Mario Draghi at the forthcoming November 6 meeting, unless markets compel him to act (comment/intervene) well before the scheduled meeting date. In the run-up to that, we've got the imminent Q3 releases by European companies, as well as key data releases this week, such as German and French PMI, and Spanish Unemployment and Eurozone Consumer Confidence on Thursday coupled with German GfK consumer climate and Italian retail sales on Friday. Across the Atlantic, it is somehow more cumbersome to decipher the recent performance in credit and equity markets with that of the economy. True, retail sales have certainly disappointed, but other indicators, notably the Fed's Beige Book as well as initial claims and industrial production, have surprised to the upside and continue to indicate sustainable levels of growth. The recent decline in the price of oil should translate into an increase in consumer purchasing power. Nevertheless, last week we had St. Louis Fed President James Bullard state that the "Fed could continue with QE beyond October" and that if the economy remained strong, the Fed "could end QE in December", thereby suggesting that the US economy could be also subject to external shocks. Despite this, we expect Fed Chairman Yellen to reiterate her stance that the Federal Reserve's policy continues to be data dependent and will primarily focus on the sustainable domestic economic recovery. This week, we've got a flurry of data releases to contend with, starting with Existing Home Sales today, CPI tomorrow, Initial Jobless on Thursday and New Home Sales on Friday. Meanwhile, inflation data in China have also recently confirmed a possibly deflationary scenario; PPI deflation deteriorated in September and, more importantly, CPI inflation surprised to downside for a second consecutive month. Economists' concerns are now that inflation could decline into negative territory if oil and house price falls gather momentum as the imbalance between housing supply and demand, combined with the latest foreign-reserves data, showing a record pace of hot-money outflows, suggests house price falls will likely deepen. Of great importance is the Q3 GDP released earlier this morning, coming in at 7.3% y-o-y (vs an expected 7.2%) coupled with Thursday's HSBC China Manufacturing PMI, both key gauges of internal real growth. This article was issued by Calamatta Cuschieri, visit www.cc.com.mt for more information. The information, view and opinions provided in this article is being provided solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice, advice concerning particular investments or investment decisions, or tax or legal advice. Calamatta Cuschieri & Co. Ltd has not verified and consequently neither warrants the accuracy nor the veracity of any information, views or opinions appearing on this newspaper Market Commentary: Market seems to doubt ECB plan of price stability