Middle East: A new report by HSBC Holdings says business confidence in the GCC climbed in the second quarter due to optimism that company sales and profits would improve. The HSBC Gulf Business Confidence Index rose to 79.4 from 74.8 in previous quarter, the bank said in a survey. Bahrain was the only country to show a slight fall in confidence. The online survey was compiled by YouGov Siraj and involved 1,823 business people in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain.