| IMF's Successful Review Proves Economy's 'Strength': Minister The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) latest staff-level agreement with Egypt to disburse another $2 billion of a $12 billion loan proves the strength of the country's economy despite the recent instability of the global economy, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said on Thursday. A review conducted by an IMF committee will be presented to the fund's board in December before the disbursal of the loan's fifth installment, which will bring total disbursements under the program to $10 billion, Maait added in a statement. The committee, which visited Egypt from October 18-31, said in its review that the country's economy "has continued to perform well, despite less favorable global conditions, supported by the authorities' strong implementation of the reform program." They also praised the increase in the country's GDP growth from 4.2 percent in the 2016/2017 fiscal year to 5.3 percent in the following financial year, which ended last June, as well as the decline in unemployment to below 10 percent. According to the report, the government made efforts to "implement reforms that aim to help the private sector invest and create the jobs needed to achieve more inclusive and sustainable growth for Egypt's young and growing population." These reforms, according to an IMF statement, include "improving access to industrial land; promoting competition; improving transparency and accountability of state owned enterprises; and fighting corruption." The IMF committee's review was backed up by another international report issued last week, the World Bank's 2019 Doing Business Report, which saw Egypt climb eight spots and improve remarkably in four of the report's 11 categories. | | Oil & Gas  Eni to Invest $5 Bn in Zohr Gas Processing Plant Italian oil and gas company Eni said it will invest around $5 billion in constructing a gas treatment plant for the giant Zohr gas field, a project that inches Egypt closer to accomplishing its goal of becoming a regional energy hub. The plant, which is currently under construction and will have a capacity of 3.2 billion cubic feet of gas daily, will be completed by the second half of 2019, a source in the petroleum sector told AlBorsa website. Eni discovered Zohr in 2015 for the largest ever discovery of natural gas in the Mediterranean Sea. Production at Zohr, which holds an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet of gas, recently rose to 2 billion cubic feet per day. Egypt's current gas production stands at 6.6 billion cubic feet per day owing to the increase in Zohr's production. As part of its target to become a regional energy hub by 2021, the country has inaugurated new projects including a new 2.5-kilometer wharf with three berths to receive natural gas and petroleum products carriers. The country has been also building fueling depots for ships along the Suez Canal and has an extensive pipeline network and two idle gas liquefaction plants ready to export new gas as it arrives. | | EXCLUSIVE - CBE to Put Sale of United Bank on Hold After Unexpected Success The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) is mulling putting the sale of United Bank of Egypt (UB) on hold after its profits turned positive, informed sources told Delta Digest. The sources said the CBE believes there is still room to further enhance the portfolio of UB, which was formed after three loss-making banks were merged, after which it can set a better price tag. "There are two reasons why the CBE hasn't made the move to sell the UB yet," the sources added. "They feel the longer they wait, the more money they can get closing the deal, especially that the bank has been successful recently. The current instability in the emerging markets could also negatively affect any deal." Two years ago, the CBE, which owns 99 percent of the UB, announced that it would sell its stake in the bank. The CBE created the UB in 2006 in an attempt to restructure three loss-making banks -- the Egyptian United Bank, The Islamic Bank for Development and Investment and The Nile Bank. UB has since made an immense headway, reducing its long-standing debts from EGP 6 billion ($335.1 million) to EGP 1.5 billion ($83.8 million), with a plan to pay off all debts by next year. It has also increased its capital to EGP 3.5 billion and introduced online banking. | | Stock Market Sarwa Stock Continues Climb, Thanks to Orascom's 30% Bid The stock of consumer and structured finance provider Sarwa Capital continued its climb during Thursday's trading for the second successive day, fueled by news that Orascom Investment Holding (OIH), which is owned by Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris, is looking to acquire around 30 percent of the company. OIH announced on Thursday a bid to buy around 216 million shares of Sarwa Capital for EGP 7.36 ($0.41) per share. It will pay EGP 6.62 a share if it only acquired between 144 million and 216 million shares OIH Managing Director Tamer El-Mahdi said on Wednesday he expects the deal to be completed during this month. "The company fundamentals are very strong, and we have no concerns in terms of the stock's performance since the IPO," he told Bloomberg. The company's shares had seen huge declines since its debut on Cairo bourse in October, hurt by investor concerns about the downturn in global emerging markets. Late in October, Sarwa Capital's board of directors agreed to increase the company's issued capital by EGP 700 million through offering new shares to existing shareholders at the IPO price of EGP 7.36 per share. | | Beltone Suspended by Market Watchdog on Manipulation Charges The board of capital market regulator Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) decided on Thursday to impose a ban on Beltone Promotion and Underwriting, a unit of Beltone Financial Holding, from operating for six months. The ban will come into effect on Sunday, November 4, it noted. FRA also imposed a fine on Beltone Securities through raising the value of insurance at the market regulator to EGP 50 ($2.8) million. State-owned news agency MENA quoted sources as saying the ban was due to manipulations committed by Beltone Promotion and Underwriting and Beltone Securities in the share offering of Sarwa Capital, which was carried out in mid-October. Sarwa Capital's offering, which was divided into an initial public offering and a private placement, was for 295.2 million shares, or 47.2 percent of capital, at EGP 7.36 per share with a total value of EGP 2.2 billion ($122 million). A total of 29.5 million shares were floated in the IPO, representing 10 percent of offered shares and 4.7 percent of the company's total shares. In response, Beltone Financial said in a bourse filing that it did not violate any rules with respect to share offerings, adding that it will take all legal measures to protect its interests. | | International Private Messages From 81,000 Hacked Facebook Accounts Up for Sale: BBC A hacking group has allegedly obtained private messages from at least 81,000 Facebook accounts and at one point offered to sell access for 10 cents per account, the BBC reported Friday. Culprits told the BBC Russian Service that they had details from a total of 120 million accounts, which they were attempting to sell. However, BBC stated that "there are reasons to be skeptical about that figure." Many of the compromised accounts belong to Facebook users in Ukraine and Russia, but some are from the US, UK, Brazil, among other countries. After investigating the claims, the social media platform said it suspects the private information was gathered by "malicious browser extensions," which range from online shopping assistants to ad blockers. Extensions are generally available through browser makers' stores and have access to information about people's web activity across the online services they use. "We have contacted browser-makers to ensure that known malicious extensions are no longer available to download in their stores," Facebook Executive Guy Rosen told the BBC. "We have also contacted law enforcement and have worked with local authorities to remove the website that displayed information from Facebook accounts." The sellers told the BBC that the hacked data was not related to the data breach that Facebook reported in September. In September, Facebook announced that hackers were able to obtain private details from nearly 30 million accounts - originally estimated at 50 million - through a flaw in the platform's "View As" feature. The hackers are yet to be identified. | | Etisalat Misr's Revenues Jump 18% in Q3 2018 The revenues of UAE-based telecom operator Etisalat Misr rose by 18 percent in the third quarter of this year compared to the same period last year, thanks to a growth in the provision of voice and data transmission services through high-speed Internet ADSL as well as international calls. Etisalat Misr's net returns stood at EGP 3.5 billion (about $195 million) during the third quarter of 2018, with profits reaching EGP 1.5 billion ($84 million) -- a 34 percent growth compared to the year-ago period, according to the financial results of released by parent company Etisalat Group on Saturday. The telecom operator's users dropped to 31 million during the third quarter of 2018, compared to 33.4 million in the corresponding period last year. In July, Etisalat Misr and state-run Telecom Egypt signed an agreement for outlining mobile interconnection rates between both operators, which is considered the first arrangement on mobile interconnection for Telecom Egypt. Both operators also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) last August that enables Etisalat Misr to provide its customers with fixed voice services. The agreement was the first of its kind in the Egyptian market as it covers all the basic terms that grant both companies the capacity to formalize a commercial agreement in due course. | | NBK Egypt's Profits Hike 26% in 9M YoY The National Bank of Kuwait (NBK)-Egypt, a member of NBK Group, reported a 26 percent surge in its profits of EGP 1.4 billion (nearly $78.2 million) in the first nine months of 2018, compared to EGP 1.16 billion ($64.8 million) in the year-ago period -- taking into account minority interests. The hike was due to an increase of EGP 100 ($5.6) million in net returns because of a leap in the loan portfolio as well as a surge in net profit from continuing operations worth EGP 319 ($18) million, NBK said in a bourse filing on Thursday. NBK's profits rose by 36.1 percent in the first half of 2018 to reach EGP 989 ($55) million versus EGP 727 ($41) million during the same period last year. The bank's interest income also climbed up by 25.8 percent during the first half of the current year, reaching EGP 3.3 billion ($184 million) by the end of June, compared to EGP 2.62 billion ($146 million) during the same period in 2017. | | Pharma Companies' Sales Grow 31% in 9M: Report Pharmaceutical manufacturers operating in the local market recorded EGP 47.9 billion ($2.7 billion) in sales during the first nine months of 2018, a growth of 30.7 percent year-on-year, according to Amwal Al-Ghad newspaper, which cited a report issued by information technology company IMS Health. Pharmaceutical sales amounted to around EGP 6 billion ($335 million) in September with a growth rate of 31% year-on-year, bringing the total value of sales in the third quarter of 2018 to EGP 17.1 billion ($954 million). The top ten pharmaceutical producers in terms of sales accounted for 43.9 percent of the sector's total sales in the nine-month period at a value of EGP 21 billion. Meanwhile, Minister of Public Enterprise Sector Hisham Tawfik stressed the government's commitment to improve the drug industry at its affiliated companies and find solutions to the difficulties facing them. The government approved two successive rounds of increases in medications in May 2016 and January 2017, heeding calls from pharma companies which complained that manufacturers were incurring losses due to the rapid changes of economic conditions. Nile Pharma, a subsidiary of HoldiPharma, announced late last week new price tags for five pharmaceuticals, introducing increases of more than 100 percent. "New prices can soar by five times for some of the listed medicines," Nile Pharma said. | | Oriental Weavers' 9M Profit Retreat 27% YoY Carpet and rug manufacturer Oriental Weavers said in a filing to Cairo bourse on Thursday that its consolidated net profit for the first nine months of 2018 declined 27.1 percent year-on-year. The company recorded a net profit of EGP 436.4 million ($24.4 million) after tax in the nine-month period, down from EGP 598.8 million ($33.4 million) in the corresponding period of 2017. Meanwhile, the nine-month net sales rose slightly by 0.7 percent to EGP 7.6 billion while net profit for the third quarter of 2018 fell by 11.1 percent to EGP 110.1 million. OW said in August it had recorded a 44 percent year-on-year drop in net income to EGP 115 million in the second quarter of 2018, while sales revenue grew five percent year on year, reaching EGP 2.5 billion. Earlier in April, the carpet manufacturer said it was targeting an eight percent growth in its export revenues in 2018, in light of new export orders from customers in new and existing markets. It said in March it was planning to acquire assets worth EGP 147.6 million this year. It also announced last December that it planned to spend EGP 120 million on new production lines, machinery and equipment in 2018, including adding 8-10 weaving looms by the end of the year. | | CI Capital Profits More Than Double in 9M Investment bank CI Capital announced on Thursday that its net profits for the first nine months of 2018 rose by 128 percent year on year to record EGP 304.7 ($17) million. The company generated EGP 1.8 billion ($100.5 million) in revenues during those nine months, an increase of 51 percent compared with the same period a year earlier. "The group registered solid results in the third quarter of 2018, which were coupled with outstanding performance for the group's non-banking services, represented in Corplease and Reefy", said CI Capital's Co-CEO Hazem Badran. "CI Capital was negatively affected by the turmoil in global markets, which led to a decline in the trading volume and a delay in share offerings in the capital market. However, the asset management segment recorded strong results." CI Capital earlier reported an 88 percent year-on-year increase in net profit for the first half of 2018, registering EGP 161.3 million, while topline for the same period rose by 46 percent to reach around EGP 1.1 billion. The investment bank said in April it successfully concluded the book building process for its initial public offering, which it priced at EGP 7.70 per share for 41.5 percent of its shares, adding that the institutional offering to international investors was 6.1 times oversubscribed. Last year, the Commercial International Bank executed the transfer of 74.75 percent of CI Capital's shares to a consortium of investors in a deal worth EGP 710.1 million. | | Real Estate Tallest Alamein Tower to Cost Over $223 Mn: Report The tallest tower in New Alamein City, which is currently under construction, will cost around EGP 4 billion ($223.4 million), an unnamed source in the company tasked with building it told Amwal Alghad newspaper. Both Redcon and Construction & Reconstruction Company Dorra Group won tenders to build the city's two tallest buildings, with each featuring at least 40 storeys. Last month, Deputy Housing Minister Khaled Abbas told local media that six universities would open their doors to students in New Alamein City in September 2019. The government has also recently offered 2 million meters of industrial land for sale in the city, located on the country's north-western coast. New Alamein is located on an area of 50,000 acres, and is set to accommodate around 3 million inhabitants when the first phase is complete. | | Ekuity Holding Raises Its SODIC Stake to %4.9 Ekuity Holding has raised its stake in Egypt's key real estate developer SODIC to 4.9 percent from 4.86 percent, Financials Brokerage Group said on Thursday. A wholly-owned subsidiary of Kuwait Investment Fund (KIA) and the investment manager of its operation in Egypt, Ekuity Holding purchased 150,000 shares of SODIC at EGP 15.7 per share for a total value of EGP 2.3 million ($128,437), the brokerage firm added. SODIC, which is capitalized at EGP 1.36 billion ($76 million), previously said that it had recorded EGP 374.09 ($21) million in net profit for the first six months of 2018, compared with EGP 341.5 million in the same period a year earlier. Revenues for the same period amounted to EGP 1 billon, a decrease from EGP 1.17 billion in the same period a year ago. SODIC forecasts its 2018 sales to grow by 55.35% year-on-year to reach around EGP 8.7 billion. The company said earlier this year that it planned to invest up to EGP 1 billion to grow its land bank in 2018. It also announced in September that it was awarded an EGP 14.2 billion 500-acre plot of land in Sheikh Zayed on the outskirts of Cairo, where it plans to develop as many as 5,000 residential units. | | City Edge Targets $56 Mn in Sales From New Mansoura Project's 1st Phase Egypt's real estate developer City Edge Developments has launched the first phase of its New Mansoura project "Zahya", targeting sales of EGP 1 billion ( around $56 million), the company's CEO Amr El-Kady said. The first phase comprises two 28-storey towers with 300 residential units, ranging from apartments to villas. Apartments are offered in sizes ranging from 135 to 350 square meters at EGP 24,000 ($1,340) per square meter while villas are offered in sizes ranging from 290 to 820 square meters with a starting price of EGP 4.6 million ($256,876), El-Kady told reporters on Thursday "Zahya will accommodate its residents in homes that provide complete living experiences," the CEO said, noting that the mixed-use project will span across 1,900 acres. City Edge earlier revealed that it had achieved total sales of EGP 8.5 billion ($475 million) from its two other projects, North Edge Towers in New Alamein and ETAPA in Sheikh Zayed. It is also marketing its latest project in the New Administrative Capital east of Cairo -- Baroque. | | Region flynas Launches Its Direct Dammam–Cairo Flights Saudi low-cost carrier flynas announced the launch of its direct flights between Dammam and Cairo, with the first flight scheduled to take off on November 24. The airline said in a statement issued on Friday that it will operate seven flights weekly, once a day. Other carriers that currently operate direct flights between Cairo and Dammam include EgyptAir, Saudia, Gulf Air and Etihad. The addition of the new destination is part of flynas' global expansion plan and strategy to meet the growing demand for flights between Dammam and Cairo, according to the statement. The airline has recently announced the launch of direct flights between Dammam Arar, the capital of the Northern border region in Saudi Arabia, to Dubai in UAE and Karachi in Pakistan. Established in 2007, flynas is the national Saudi carrier and the leading low-cost airline in the Middle East with a fleet of 30 Airbus A320 Aircraft, operating over 1,100 flights weekly to 17 domestic and 53 international destinations. | | VAR Controversy As Ahly Take First-Leg Advantage in Champions League Final Egypt's Ahly edged closer to a record-extending ninth African Champions League title after beating Tunisian side Esperance 3-1 in the final first leg, but Friday's highly-charged match was overshadowed by refereeing controversy. The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology was used for the first time in Africa's flagship competition but it hardly achieved its target of ensuring an error-free final at Alexandria's Borg El-Arab Stadium. Walid Soliman converted two disputed penalties as Ahly claimed a comfortable advantage, with Algerian referee Mehdi Abid Charef stealing headlines after awarding the spot-kicks despite checking a video replay on both occasions. Charef appeared to argue with the VAR, Gambian referee Bakary Gassama, when he went to the pitchside monitor to review the incidents. Ahly's Moroccan striker Walid Azaro won the two penalties either side of the interval after tumbling to the ground following what seemed to be minor contacts. Esperance complained of biased refereeing after the game, with Ahly remaining largely silent. The Tunisian Football Federation also demanded that Azaro be suspended and Charef be punished. The second leg will take place in Rades, Tunis on Friday. | | Egypt, Saudi Arabia's ACWA Sign $2.3 Bn Power Plant Deal: Minister Egypt signed on Thursday a $2.3 billion deal with Saudi Arabia's ACWA Power to build a power plant in Upper Egypt's Luxor governorate, Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker announced in a conference. ACWA Power signed the power purchase agreement (PPA) as part of a consortium that includes Egyptian group Hassan Allam. According to the deal, a gas-fired combined cycle plant which will have a capacity of 2,250 megawatts (MW) will be built in Luxor, the Saudi gazette reported. The plant is expected to start operation in its first phase in the summer of 2022 and the full commercial operation a year later. The PPA is under a Build-Own-Operate framework with a 25-year term. "I am looking forward to working with the international finance institutions such as DFIs, ECAs, and commercial banks to raise the required fund for the project," Rajit Nanda, Chief Investment Officer of ACWA Power, was quoted as saying. ACWA Power is also working on a number of projects in the country including a 200MW Solar PV project in Aswan's Kom Ombo and three solar photovoltaic power plants in Aswan's Benban with a total capacity of165.5MWp. | | 7 Copts Killed in Minya Attack; Sisi Vows to Crush Terrorism Seven people were gunned down and 18 others wounded Friday in an attack on a bus returning from a baptism at a Coptic monastery in the Upper Egypt province of Minya. The assault targeted three vehicles on a road near the Monastery of Saint Samuel the Confessor in Minya, south of Cairo, the Coptic Church's spokesman said in an official statement on Friday. All seven people who were killed were riding the first bus, which was heading from Minya towards the monastery. Thirteen people in the second vehicle were injured, including women and children. Six of the dead were from the same family as one of the buses was carrying 28 people belonging to the same family, the spokesman added. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, according to its Amaq news agency, which did not provide any evidence of the group's involvement. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi offered his condolences to the victims' families, reiterating his vow to crush terrorists. Christians, who roughly make up 10 percent of Egypt's 100 million population, have been a frequent target of attacks over the past few years. Twenty eight people were killed and a dozen wounded when IS group militants attacked a vehicle carrying Christians in almost the same spot in May 2017. | | Fighter Plane Crashes, Pilot Ejects Safely A fighter plane crashed Saturday during a training flight due to a technical malfunction and the pilot ejected safely, Egyptian military spokesman Tamer El-Refaie said. El-Refaie did not specify the location of the crash, saying it took place in "one of the training sites." A malfunction in the control tools led to the crash, he said. | Sisi speaks during the World Youth Forum International Second World Youth Forum Kicks Off on Saturday President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi launched on Saturday the second edition of the World Youth Forum (WYF) in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, which is attended by more than 5,000 youths represented by 60 delegations from all over the world. During his speech in the forum's opening ceremony, El-Sisi called on the international community to denounce the crimes of the Islamic State (IS) group and all terrorist organizations. The forum "engages youth from around the globe in an enriching set-up, allowing them to exchange views and recommend initiatives to decision-makers and influential figures," according its official website. It does so through plenary sessions, workshops and roundtable discussions. This year's theme revolves around the Egyptian identity and envisioning a better Africa, in accordance with the African Union's Agenda 2063. On the sidelines of the forum, El-Sisi met his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas to discuss the latest developments in the Palestinian issue as well as the Egyptian efforts to broker reconciliation between rival Palestinian factions. The president reaffirmed Egypt's support for a two-state solution on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. | | International Thousands of Google Staff Walk Out in Protest Over Alleged Sexual Assault Payouts Thousands of Google employees in more than 20 offices around the world staged brief midday walkouts on Thursday in protest at the company's alleged protection of senior employees accused of sexual harassment and assault. The "Google Walkout For Real Change" -- which took place a week after the New York Times revealed that Google in 2014 had suppressed allegations of sexual misconduct against some of its executives -- targeted what organizers called a "culture of complicity, dismissiveness and support for perpetrators," according to a circulating statement sent to company executives on Thursday. Workers took to a makeshift stage to share stories of harassment they claimed to have experienced at Google. One on-stage participant said she would never encourage children to think about a job in technology, likening it to "sending young girls and boys to the slaughter." Google CEO Sundar Pichai sent a memo to staff last week noting that the company has taken "an increasingly hard line" on inappropriate conduct at work and had already fired 48 people, including 13 senior managers, in the past two years, without exit packages. On Tuesday, Pichai sent a follow-up note reiterating his apology "for the past actions and the pain they have caused employees" and stated that employees would have the "support" they needed to show up for the protests. However, the organizers have asked Google parent Alphabet Inc to appoint a representative to its board of directors and internally share pay-equity data. They also called for amendments to Google's human resources practices to allow for a fairer process to bring harassment claims. | | Region 'Saudi Highest Level' Gave Order to Kill Journalist Khashoggi: Erdogan The killing of Jamal Khashoggi was ordered by the "highest levels" of the Saudi government, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday, on the same day that Turkey also said Khashoggi's body was dismembered and dissolved in acid. In an opinion piece in the Washington Post, for which the slain Saudi journalist was a columnist, Erdogan said he did not believe "for a second" that Saudi King Salman had ordered Khashoggi's killing himself. However, he did not elaborate further on who could have given the order. Also on Friday, Turkish presidential adviser Yasin Aktay said he believes Khashoggi's body, which is yet to be found, was dissolved in acid after being cut up. The "only logical conclusion", he said, was that those who had killed the Saudi journalist in Istanbul had destroyed his body "to leave no trace behind." Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi Arabia's current rulers, was killed inside the country's consulate in Istanbul on 2 October. The Saudi government initially insisted Khashoggi had left the consulate but backtracked later, saying he died in a fight inside the building. Last week, the kingdom's public prosecutor Saud Al Mojeb said the attack was premeditated. | | Region Over 7 Mn Yemeni Kids Face Serious Famine Threat: UN The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned that more than seven million children are facing a serious threat of famine in Yemen due to the aerial bombardment campaign against the country, noting that ending the country's war will not save all of them. "Today, 1.8 million children under the age of five are facing acute malnutrition, and 400,000 are affected by severe acute malnutrition," Geert Cappelaere, UNICEF's regional director in the MENA, said on Wednesday. Cappelaere said that "more than half" of the 14 million people at serious risk of famine in Yemen are children. "Ending the war is not enough. What we need is to stop the war and [to create] a government mechanism that puts at the center the people and children," the high-ranking UN official added. "The war is exacerbating the situation that was already bad before because of years of underdevelopment in the impoverished Arab country." He said efforts to come up with a solution to the ongoing Yemeni conflict within the next 30 days were "critical" to improving aid distribution and saving lives. Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating military campaign against Yemen in March 2015 in order to bring Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi's government back to power and crush the country's rebel Houthi movement. | | Global Economy Trump Says Likely to 'Make a Deal With China' US President Donald Trump said Friday he would probably strike a deal with China to put an end to the months-long trade war between both countries, citing tangible progress made to break the deadlock. "China very much wants to make a deal," Trump told the press in Washington. "We've had a very good discussions with China, we're getting much closer to doing something." "I spoke with President Xi [Jinping] yesterday. They very much want to make a deal. I think we'll make a deal with China, and I think it will be a very fair deal for everybody, but it will be a good deal for the United States." Trump's comments gave a respite to declining US stocks, which had been earlier in the day boosted by a Bloomberg story reporting an anonymous source as saying the US president commissioned his cabinet with setting up a deal with China. Yet shortly after, Apple Inc.'s below-par earnings took a toll on the US shares. | |
