ABU DHABI / EMIRATES BUSINESS The Emirates Securities Market Index has decreased by -1.05% to close at 4528.92 points. Accordingly the Market Capitalization has lost AED 7.76 billion attaining AED 734.65 billion. A total of 399.22 Million Shares were traded with a total value of AED 0.63 billion during the trading session of 02-05-2016 through 6588 transactions. The number of companies …

  Sydney / AFP Australian banking heavyweight Westpac posted a three percent rise in interim net profit on Monday as it battles regulatory changes and rising bad loans, disappointing investors who savaged the share price. Westpac’s Aus$3.70 billion (US$2.81 billion) result in the six months to March 31 kicked off a week of half-yearly reporting from the nation’s top lenders, …

  DOHA / Reuters Qatar National Bank (QNB), the Middle East’s largest lender by assets, said it had taken immediate steps to ensure customers would not suffer any financial loss after a security breach last week exposed personal data of thousands of clients. “We are taking every measure to protect the privacy of our customers and have engaged an external third …