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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 17 FEBRUARY 2016 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 10% increase in outbound travel in last quarter of 2015 Total outbound tourists for the fourth quarter in 2015 were esti- mated at 110,924, an increase of 10.2 per cent when compared to the same quarter in 2014. During the fourth quarter of 2015, the number of outbound tourist trips towards EU countries stood at 98,571, an increase of 9.7 per cent over the same quarter in 2014. Italy and the United Kingdom remained the most popular destinations, with a share of 54.0 per cent of total tourist trips. Total nights spent by outbound tourists increased by 1.7 per cent, reaching 856,303 nights. In absolute terms, the majority of guest nights were spent in private accommodation establishments. Total estimated outlay by resident tourists between October and December increased by 7.7 per cent over the same quarter of 2014, and stood at €106.5 million, equivalent to an average €960 per trip. Total outbound tourist trips between January and December 2015 numbered 428,033, an increase of 9.6 per cent over 2014. Total nights spent by outbound tourists went up by 2.7 per cent, reaching almost 3.3 million nights. In addition, total estimated outlay by resident tourists stood at €422.7 million, 9.0 per cent higher than that recorded for the same period in 2014. Market commentary: A bright start for optimistic European equities With both the equity and the bond markets closed in the United States on Monday due to Presi- dent's Day, all the action took place in Asia and Europe. There was a sense of optimism in the air, as European equities enjoyed a second consecutive day of trad- ing in the green. Banks and car- makers led the way with rallies, and the increase in the oil price also helped European shares rise. The news of the European Central Bank's asset-purchase programme set the tone for the rise in banking stocks. As investors welcomed plans by the ECB to buy bundles of Italian bad bank loans, markets rebounded positively. Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena was up 9.9%, whereas shares in rivals Banco Popolare and Intese Sanpaolo climbed 8.5% and 4.8%, respectively. The rise in the Italian banking sector led the way for other European banks too, with Dutch group ING rising 5.9% and Credit Suisse climbing 4.2%. HSBC was another bank to see its shares climb on Monday. The company has just confirmed that it will be keeping its headquarters in the UK following the consideration of a relocation to Hong Kong. London has been home to HSBC since 1993, and the company complimented the UK on its "internationally respected regulatory framework and legal system". HSBC shares were up 1.36%. Demand for safe havens, such as gold and the yen declined on Monday. Gold scored its biggest weekly gain since the 2008 financial crises last week, which tempted investors to cash out on their profits. Meanwhile, silver also found itself tumbling, as the precious metal dropped 3% to $15.30 an ounce. The automobile industry got off to a bright start to the week. Companies such as Volkswagen, Peugeot Citroën as well as Renault all posted gains for the day of as much as 7%. Other movers included clothing retailer H&M and supermarket chain Aldi. The Swedish clothing company advanced 3.5% on the news that total sales for January rose 7%, and Aldi announced it is looking to recruit 5,000 staff in 2016 since it wants to open 80 new stores across the UK. Draghi: We will not hesitate to act Monday was an important day for global markets, with all eyes on European Central Bank president, Mario Draghi, who give a statement of confidence in his address to the European Parliament. While no major, market-moving news was announced, Draghi put investors' minds at rest saying that "the ECB is ready to do its part", and ease policy in March – should the recent turmoil threaten to keep inflation low. The ECB will examine risks emanating from weaker emerging market growth and look at whether plunging crude prices along with market turbulence could derail its efforts to boost inflation. The ECB has missed its inflation target of close to 2% for three straight years and policymakers fear that a failure to get prices rising again would erode public confidence in the bank. This is bad news since it will render monetary policy ineffective, leaving Europe stuck in a trap of zero price growth. This article was issued by Rebecca Naudi, Trader at Calamatta Cuschieri. For more information visit, www.cc.com. mt. The information, view and opinions provided in this article are 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 Investment Services Ltd has not verified and consequently neither warrants the accuracy nor the veracity of any information, views or opinions appearing in this article. Four oil producing nations agree to freeze output Oil ministers from three Opec countries, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Venezuela, as well as Russia, have agreed to freeze oil output at Janu- ary levels, as long as others follow suit. The announcement came after the four ministers met in Doha on Tuesday. The move is designed to support the oil price, which has dropped sharply in recent months. Oil prices have fallen about 70% from their recent peak of around $116 a barrel in June 2014. The steep decline is due to oversupply, sluggish demand and worries about the global economic outlook. Brent crude, which had been up more than 5% earlier, fell back to be 0.76% higher at $33.61 a barrel, while US crude was up 0.3% at $29.85 Fears of oversupply have been added to recently as Western sanctions against major oil producer Iran were lifted recently. Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali al- Naimi said: "Freezing now at the January level is adequate for the market. We don't want significant gyrations in prices, we want to meet demand. We want a stable oil price." The closed-door meeting indicates the mood may be shifting among producers, especially Saudi Arabia, which has been determined to defend market share rather than prices in the face of competition from US shale oil producers. Opec's plan to drive out higher- cost producers has proved largely ineffective. City Index analyst Fawad Razaqzada said the move had disappointed the market slightly because many had hoped for a cut rather than a production freeze. "In the short term, oil prices may come under some pressure. Nevertheless, it is a step in the right direction and if other major producers follow suit then at the very least it should help to prevent oil prices from suffering further big falls," he said. Olivier Jakob, a Petromatrix strategist, said: "It's really the first supply management decision taken since November 2014, so even though there will be some that will try to discount it and say it's not a cut, it's a change. It is a big change in policy." Oil-producing nations have had to cut spending, increase deficit forecasts and push through politically unpopular reforms. Venezuela's oil minister, Eulogio Del Pino, has visited major oil producers in recent weeks to rally support for the idea of freezing production at current levels in an effort to stabilise prices. Shortly after Tuesday's announcement, Del Pino said he would travel to Tehran to meet ministers from Iraq and Iran on Wednesday. Iran wishes to recover its market share after the lifting of western sanctions against it came into effect last month. Iran has said it wants to increase its production and exports of crude oil to one million barrel per day in two phases over roughly six months. The country's deputy minister of petroleum, Rokneddin Javadi said on Sunday that Iran had increased its crude oil production to 400,000 barrels a day, according to Iran's news agency, Irna. He added that figure was expected to increase by another 200,000 barrels. At the weekend it started its first oil exports to Europe, and has also been increasing supplies to Japan.