Author: Finance for Sight

A targeted Ukrainian artillery strike on Monday killed six people including two journalists and their driver who were on assignment in Moscow-controlled parts of eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk region, Russian authorities and media said. The attack killed Alexander Fedorchak, a war correspondent from Russia’s Izvestia media outlet, as well as camera operator Andrei Panov and driver Alexander Sirkeli who worked for the Zvezda television channel, the Russian foreign ministry said. Another Zvezda correspondent, Nikita Goldin, was seriously wounded. The attack was “a targeted artillery shelling by Kyiv,” Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, said in a statement on…

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) faced selling pressure on Monday as the benchmark KSE-100 Index lost over 2,000 points, with analysts attributing the downturn to concerns related to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan. The market remained under pressure throughout the trading session, dragging the KSE-100 to an intra-day low of 116,257.51. At close, the benchmark index settled at 116,439.62 level, a decrease of 2,002.55 points or 1.69%. “The market faced downward pressure due to IMF concerns over the lack of adjustments to electricity tariffs and no reduction in property taxes, as reported in the news. Additionally, the proposed increase…

NEW DELHI: India’s government has told a court in Mumbai that agreeing to Volkswagen’s demand to quash a $1.4 billion tax bill would have “catastrophic consequences” and encourage companies to withhold information and delay inquiries, court documents show. India’s highest-ever demand for back taxes related to import duties came after scrutiny of 12 years of Volkswagen shipments and has rekindled foreign investors’ fears over lengthy investigations. The automaker has described the case as a “matter of life and death” for its India business, and is fighting the tax authority in the high court in Mumbai. Volkswagen unit, Skoda Auto Volkswagen…

UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations said Monday a strike on its buildings in Gaza last week that killed one employee and injured several others was caused “by an Israeli tank,” a claim disputed by the country’s government. “Based on the information currently available, the strikes hitting a UN compound in Deir Al Balah on 19 March were caused by an Israeli tank,” said the secretary-general’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric. The strike – which killed a Bulgarian employee of the UN Office for Project Services and severely injured six others, according to Dujarric – came as Israel renewed its intense bombardment of…

HOUSTON: Oil prices gained 1% on Monday as U.S. President Donald Trump said he will impose a 25% tariff on countries that buy oil and gas from Venezuela. Price gains were capped, however, as the U.S. gave oil producer Chevron until May 27 to wind down its oil operations and exports from Venezuela. Trump had initially given Chevron 30 days from March 4 to wind down that license. The two moves taken together alleviate some pressure on Chevron while putting more pressure on other consumers of Venezuelan oil, though it is uncertain how the Trump administration will enforce the tariff.…

CAIRO/OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: An Israeli airstrike at a hospital in Gaza on Sunday killed five people, including a Hamas political leader, Palestinian medics and Hamas said, in an attack Israel said had targeted a key figure in the Hamas group. The Gaza Health Ministry said the strike hit the surgery department at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. The Israeli military said its attack followed extensive intelligence and used precise munitions to minimize harm at the site. Hamas said a member of its political office, Ismail Barhoum, had been killed. Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, confirmed the target was Barhoum. The military…

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) will set up a committee to review provisions related to its members’ conflict of interest, the markets regulator said on Monday in its first meeting under new chairman, Tuhin Kanta Pandey. SEBI’s previous chief, Madhabi Puri Buch, had come under attack towards the end of her term after the now-shuttered Hindenburg Research alleged conflict of interest in investigations into the Adani group because of her previous investments, which both Buch and the Adani group denied. Separately, the regulator also approved doubling the assets under management (AUM) threshold to 500 billion rupees ($5.84…

TEHRAN: Iran said on Monday it was open to indirect talks with the United States, after President Donald Trump had demanded negotiations for a new nuclear deal. “The way is open for indirect negotiations,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, dismissing the prospect of direct talks “until there is a change in the other side’s approach towards the Islamic republic”. The top Iranian diplomat said Tehran would not engage in direct talks with Washington under threats and so long as Trump maintain his “maximum pressure” policy. Under that policy in his first term as president, Trump withdrew the United States from…

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka will host Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week, an official said Monday, as Colombo grapples with the competing interests of its powerful northern neighbour and China, its largest lender. A member of leftist President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s office said Modi will be the first foreign head of government to visit the island nation under the new administration. “It must be recalled that President Dissanayake’s first foreign visit after his election in September was to New Delhi in December,” the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP. He said Modi was due to hold bilateral…

Selling pressure was observed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index registering a loss of over 1,000 points during the intraday trading on Monday. At 12:40pm, the benchmark index was hovering at 117,368.16 level, a decrease of 1,074.01 points or 0.91%. Selling was seen in key sectors including oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, refineries, automobile assemblers and fertilizer. Index-heavy stocks including EFERT, INDU, MARI, OGDC, PPL and PSO traded in the red. The PSX maintained a jubilant streak throughout the previous week, closing at an all-time high. This surge was driven by optimism surrounding a…