Pakistan pays $109m to IMF

 KARACHI, Oct 1: The State Bank has paid another installment of IMF debt that reduced the debt burden but also cut the size of foreign exchange reserves.

The State Bank said on Monday that it paid $109.4 million to the IMF which was the fifth such payments that started last year.
The Bank said it has so far paid a total amount of $1.402 billion to the IMF which had provided about $7 billion under Standby Agreement. The agreement was initially for a loan of $11 billion but Pakistan failed to remain on track suggested by the IMF as a condition to continue providing loans. The agreement was discontinued.
The next installment of 258 SDR is due in November. Pakistan hopes to pay back entire loans to the IMF despite a huge current account deficit of $.4.6 billion in FY12. (DAWN)

Read More

Google races past Microsoft to number two tech firm

NEW YORK: Google soared past Microsoft in terms of market value Monday to become the second-richest firm in the tech world behind Apple.

Google shares gained 0.96 per cent to end at $761.78, giving the Internet giant a market capitalization of $249.1 billion. Microsoft meanwhile fell 0.91 per cent to $29.49, translating into a market worth of $247.2 billion.
Both remained well behind Apple, which shed 1.16 per cent to $659.39, meaning its market cap is just above $618 billion.
Google’s stock price has climbed steadily this year as the California-based company bolstered its positions in key Internet growth areas with its dominant search engine, Android mobile operating system and YouTube video venue.
The shares got a boost last week from a Citigroup note advising investors that the Google stock price could “rise significantly in the 12 months ahead.”
A note Monday from Trip Chowdhry at Global Equities Research said both Google and Apple have “strong momentum” in the mobile Internet sector while “developer interest in Windows Phone is almost non-existent.”
Chowdhry added that Google’s “innovation velocity far exceeds any other company.”
Enthusiasm for Microsoft has been lukewarm, despite its upcoming launch of the Windows 8 operating system and a push into the tablet and phone markets. (AFP)

Read More

Pakistani stocks end higher on interest rate cut hopes

KARACHI: Pakistani stocks closed higher on Tuesday as investors remained optimistic about the monetary policy announcement on Friday, traders said.

The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) benchmark 100-share index ended 0.57 per cent, or 88.35 points, higher at 15,648.29 – falling short of an all-time peak of 15,676 points – on total volume of 140.79 million shares.
“The primary reasons are the inflation numbers. People are speculating ahead of the monetary policy. Inflation is coming down so the possibility is high that discount rate will be lower,” said Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp.
“There is an improvement in global oil prices and improvement in local cement prices.” The central bank is expected to announce a monetary policy decision on October 5.
Pakistan’s consumer price index (CPI) rose 8.79 per cent in September from a year earlier, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics said on Monday.  The year-on-year rate in August was 9.1 per cent. On a month-on-month basis, the CPI increased by 0.79 per cent from August, according to the bureau.
In the currency market, the Pakistani rupee ended weaker at 94.90/94.95 to the dollar compared to Monday’s close of 94.88/94.94.
Overnight rates in the money market ended flat at 7.50 per cent. (DAWN)

Read More

Oil companies, FMCGs drive Pakistani stocks higher

KARACHI: The Pakistani stock market ended higher on Friday, driven by investors’ interest in oil exploration and production companies, traders said.

The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) benchmark 100-share index ended 0.40 per cent, or 61.17 points, higher at 15,418.76, on total volume of 113.92 million shares.
“Activity was primarily driven by exploration and production companies as well as fast moving consumer goods companies, where OGDCL itself contributed 47 points to the index. The index was up,” said Suleman Maniya at Al-Meezan Investments.
The Oil and Gas Development Company Limited gained 1.96 per cent to close at 178.06 rupees.
In the currency market, the Pakistani rupee ended stronger at 94.75/94.80 to the dollar compared to Thursday’s close of 94.80/94.85.  Overnight rates in the money market ended flat at 10.40 per cent. - Reuters

Read More

Weekly inflation inches up

 ISLAMABAD, Sept 25: The weekly inflation rose marginally due to an increase in petrol prices of Rs6.52 per litre, for the week ending Sept 30, according to data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday.

According to the data, increase in weekly inflation was more for the higher income groups compared to the low income groups.
Ccompared to the previous week the combined income group witnessed an increase of 0.90 per cent, while the highest income earning more than Rs35,000 per month faced an inflationary impact of 1.06 per cent.
The inflation for upper mid level income group, earning between Rs18,001 and Rs35,000 per month, was 0.87 per cent higher than the previous week.
For the lower middle class earning between Rs8,001 and Rs12,000 per month, the weekly inflation was up 0.69 per cent, and for the lowest income bracket earning up to Rs8,000 per month, SPI increased 0.68 per cent against the previous week.
During the week under review, 20 items witnessed an increase in prices with major increase in the prices of onions and live farm chicken as their prices went up by around Rs10 per kilogram for the week, followed by an increase in petrol prices.
The prices of other items that witnessed increase in prices were cooked beef plate, long cloth, georgette, tea prepared, farm chicken eggs, kerosene oil, garlic, plain bread, shirting, irri-6 rice, potatoes, basmati broken rice, washed moong pulse, gur, mutton,wheat flour and washed mash pulse.
The prices of nine items witnessed a decline during the said week including bananas, tomatoes, diesel, sugar, LPG, loose vegetable ghee, wheat, loose red chillies powder and mustard oil.
However, the prices of 24 items remained unchanged in the week, which included beef, fresh milk, curd, milk powdered, packed cooking oil, packed vegetable ghee, washed masoor pulse, washed gram pulse, loose salt powdered, tea, cooked dal plate, cigarettes, lawn cloth, gents sandal, gents spring chappal, ladies sandal, electric charges, gas charges, firewood, energy savor 14 watts, washing soap, match box, local telephone calls and bath soap. - DAWN

Read More

Euro falls against dollar, yen in Asia

TOKYO: The euro fell against the dollar and yen in Asia on Monday as risk appetite was dampened by uncertainty over the progress on Greek budget cuts to qualify for a new tranche of rescue cash, dealers said.

The euro bought $1.2944 and 101.03 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade, down from $1.2985 and 101.42 yen in New York late Friday.
The dollar was changing hands at 78.02 yen, down slightly from 78.12 yen.
Athens and its international lenders have still not reached agreement on a new round of austerity that will see it given more bailout money, Kengo Suzuki, forex strategist at Mizuho Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.
"The risk sentiment-driven rally has begun to lose steam as profit-taking kicks in and uncertainty over Greece and Spain come back into the spotlight," Suzuki said, also referring to Madrid's ongoing financial woes and need for a possible bailout.
Greece must present the "troika" -- the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund -- with a multi-billion euro budget-cutting plan by Friday.
The worries over Greece add to a string of weak data out of China, the United States and the eurozone.
"The euro will be under pressure as the ECB is expected to lower its key rate in November or in December," Masafumi Yamamoto, chief currency strategist at Barclays Capital, said in a note to clients.
"The prospect of the eurozone's economic recovery is still uncertain given the global economic slowdown," he said. - AFP

Read More

Asian markets eased back ahead of China data

HONG KONG: Asian markets fell Thursday after the previous day's impressive gains, while more weak manufacturing figures out of China added to concerns about the economic giant.

Adding to downbeat sentiment in Japan were figures showing the economy recorded its second straight monthly trade deficit in August owing to slipping exports caused by a worldwide slowdown.

Tokyo fell 1.57 percent, or 145.23 points, at 9,086.98, as the yen regained the ground it lost when the Bank of Japan announced a new round of easing on Wednesday.

Seoul lost 0.87 percent, or 17.55 points, at 1,990.33 while Sydney was 0.48 percent, or 21.1 points, lower 4,397.2.

In afternoon trade Shanghai fell 1.28 percent, while Hong Kong was 0.84 percent lower.

Global indices climbed on Wednesday, with Tokyo and Sydney hitting four-month highs, after the Japanese central bank said it would extend an asset-purchase scheme as it tries to jumpstart the domestic economy.

The move followed similar bond-buying plans by the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, which helped send equities soaring.

However, most of those advances were wiped out on Thursday after HSBC's preliminary Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) said Chinese manufacturing activity contracted for an 11th straight month in September.

The survey adds to long-running worries about the world's number-two economy, which has seen its key export sector pummelled by shrinking demand in the crucial European and US markets.

HSBC said the PMI for this month hit 47.8, a mild improvement from a final reading of 47.6 in August. However, a reading below 50 indicates contraction, while anything above 50 shows growth. The final results will be released on September 29.

"The HSBC PMI data didn't offer us a surprise to the upside, so the market will continue to fall," said Soochow Securities analyst Zhu Kaikai.

The figures from China are closely watched as the country is a key driver of growth for much of the global economy.

In forex markets the dollar -- which briefly topped 79.00 yen after the BoJ announcement before easing to 78.36 yen by the end of New York trade -- bought 78.13 yen Thursday in Asia.

The euro was at $1.2986 from $1.3049 and at 101.47 yen from 102.24 yen. It had surged to 103.50 yen at one point after the BoJ move Wednesday.

Japan had a trade deficit of 754.1 billion yen ($9.6 billion) in August, smaller than the year-before deficit of 777.5 billion yen but bigger than the deficit of 518.9 billion yen for July.

"The size of the deficit was within expectations, but it increased from the previous month and underlines the difficult economic environment overseas," said Junko Nishioka, chief economist at RBS Securities Japan, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

On Wall Street Wednesday shares climbed after the National Association of Realtors announced existing home sales across the country leaped 7.8 percent from July to a two-year high, and were up 9.3 percent from a year ago.

The Dow added 0.10 percent, the S&P 500 rose 0.12 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.15 percent.

Oil prices fell, with New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, falling 49 cents to $91.41 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for November delivery shedding 26 cents to $107.93.

Gold was at $1,761.89 at 0625 GMT compared with $1,772.41 on Tuesday.

In other markets:

-- Taipei fell 0.7 percent, or 54.36 points, to 7,727.55.

HTC slid 1.45 percent to Tw$306.0 while TSMC was 0.81 percent lower at Tw$85.3.

-- Wellington was up 0.56 percent, or 21.38 points, at 3,819.28.

Telecom Corp. rose 0.87 percent to NZ$2.33.

By Business Recorder

Read More

Oil falls in Asia

SINGAPORE: Oil prices fell in Asia on Thursday after data showed manufacturing activity in the world's largest energy consumer China contracting for the 11th straight month.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October slid 91 cents to $91.07 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for November delivery fell 34 cents to $107.85.
Crude demand worries were stoked after British banking giant HSBC released data earlier Thursday showing China's manufacturing sector still stuck in a rut, said market strategist for IG Markets Singapore Justin Harper.
"The China data has pushed down commodities after HSBC's flash PMI showed contraction for another month," he told AFP.
"Oil has been on the receiving end of this negativity towards the Chinese economy and more evidence of its continued slowdown. China is a major consumer of oil and any slowdown in its economy worries traders about future demand."
The preliminary reading of the purchasing mangers' index (PMI) for China released by HSBC hit 47.8 this month, a mild improvement from a final reading of 47.6 in August, the bank said in a statement.
But the latest reading marked nearly a year of continuous contraction since November, underscoring broader economic weakness and shrinking demand in key overseas markets.
The index is closely watched as it gauges nationwide manufacturing activity, a key sector of the world's second-largest economy. A PMI reading above 50 indicates expansion, while anything below 50 points to contraction.
China's official PMI figure for August released earlier this month hit a nine-month low of 49.2.

AFP

Read More

Stocks end at four year high, rupee firms

KARACHI: Pakistani stocks ended higher on Tuesday with increased investor activity across all sectors in the market, including the oil sector.

This was the first time in five years that the Karachi Stock Exchange closed above a 15,500 index.
The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) benchmark 100-share index ended 0.77 per cent, or 118.51 points, higher at 15,517.19, on total volume of 128.67 million shares.
“It closed higher because there was broad based buying across all sectors with the oil sector leading the carts,” said Suleman Maniya at Elixir Securities Limited. The oil sector dominates around 50% of the index.
In the currency market, the Pakistani rupee ended steady at 94.53/94.58 to the dollar.
Overnight rates in the money market ended at 10.40 per cent compared to Monday’s close 7.60 per cent.

 DAWN

Read More

Dollar falls to 4 month low against euro

China's yuan rose to 12.38 yen from 12.25 yen while Australian dollar fell to $1.0529 from $1.0577.

The dollar fell to a four-month low against the euro in Asia Monday as the Federal Reserve s open-ended stimulus continued to weigh on the greenback, analysts said.

The single currency bought $1.3136 in the afternoon -- its highest since early May -- compared with $1.3127 late Friday in New York.

The euro was also trading at 102.78 against the yen, from 102.90 yen on Friday, while the dollar was at 78.28 yen from 78.37 yen.

"The dollar fell broadly, dropping to a four-month low versus the euro, after the Fed s Thursday announcement of a third bond-buying programme," Phillip Futures said in a report.

The Fed said Thursday it would start a third programme of quantitative easing by purchasing $40 billion a month in mortgage-backed bonds and would keep the scheme in place until it saw substantial improvement in the jobs market. The measure will see a flood of dollars hitting the market, likely weakening the unit.

Against other Asia-Pacific currencies, the US dollar fell to 53.80 Indian rupees from 54.73 rupees on Friday, to 30.80 Thai baht from 30.82 baht, to Tw$29.27 from Tw$29.45, to 1,114.52 South Korea won from 1,118.45 won and to 9,500.04 Indonesian rupiah from 9,543.00 rupiah.

However, it edged up to 41.47 Philippine pesos from 41.43 pesos, and to Sg$1.2225 from Sg$1.2221.

Source: washingtonpost

Read More

Over 119 million mobile phone subscribers in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly was told on Thursday thta there are total 119,860,799 mobile phone consumers in the country, including 36,048,127 of Mobilink.

In a written reply to a question, the National Assembly was informed that break up of consumers consists of Ufone as having 23,550,270 subscribers,  followed by Zong having 16,566,768.

Telenor and Warid  have 29,896,660 and 13,798,974 subscribers respectively.

Source: http://dawn.com

Read More

Asian stocks mixed on stimulus hopes, Samsung falls

HONG KONG: Asian markets were mixed Monday amid hopes of new easing measures by the United States and diplomatic manoeuvring on Greece, but Samsung shares plunged after a US court ruling in favour of rival Apple.
Tokyo climbed 0.34 percent, Sydney rose 0.28 percent, Hong Kong was flat, while Shanghai fell 0.99 percent.
Seoul was down 0.13 percent as shares of Samsung fell sharply after a US court fined the South Korean technology giant $1.05 billion for infringing on six of Apple's technology patents.
Samsung has said it would contest the verdict that analysts say could have huge market repercussions, but the stock opened 6.8 percent lower and at one point fell by as much as 7.7 percent, its lowest intra day level in a month.
Markets were rife with speculation over possible stimulus measures in the United States after minutes released last week from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting showed US central bankers worried about slowing growth.
Investors are now looking ahead for further clues to Fed chairman Ben Bernanke's speech at an annual economic policy symposium to be attended by central bankers and economists later this week.
"We have got through a quiet August," Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy and chief economist at AMP Capital in Australia.
"And we are now coming up to a peak period in terms of events where the market patience might wear out if the policy action doesn't come out," he told Dow Jones Newswires.
Europe was also in the spotlight after Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras met German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande, with both leaders affirming they wanted Greece to remain in the eurozone.
But markets were braced for further tough negotiations as Merkel said she was awaiting a report by global lenders reviewing the debt-burdened country's performance on reform targets before agreeing to revisit any terms.
The European common currency bought $1.2511 and 98.54 yen in Asian trade, compared with $1.2512 and 98.43 yen in New York late Friday.
The dollar bought 78.79 yen against 78.67 yen in US trade.
In oil markets, New York's main contract, light sweet crude for October delivery soared $1.35 to $97.50 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for delivery in October gained $1.40 to $114.99.
Gold was at $1,675.55 at 0305 GMT, compared to $1,665.90 on Friday.
AFP

Read More

Euro mixed in Asian trade

TOKYO: The euro was mixed in Asian trade on Monday amid renewed uncertainty over the eurozone debt crisis, as markets turn their focus to a speech by the US central bank chief later this week.

The European common currency bought $1.2511 and 98.54 yen in Tokyo morning trade, compared with $1.2512 and 98.43 yen in New York late Friday.
The dollar bought 78.79 yen against 78.67 yen in US trade.
Dealers said markets looked for concrete steps from the European Central Bank (ECB) to tackle the region's fiscal woes with bank chief Mario Draghi hinting at fresh measures.
There has been rising speculation that the ECB would restart a bond buying programme to tame borrowing rates among troubled eurozone countries, such as Italy and Spain.
But Draghi said details of any ECB measures still had to be worked out with member states amid persistent speculation that eurozone paymaster Germany opposed the measures.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on Friday about the terms of aid for debt-hit Athens but "there was no progress as earlier expected", Hiromichi Shirakawa, analyst at Credit Suisse in Tokyo, said in a note
AFP

Read More