Author: Finance for Sight

MOSCOW: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview published on Wednesday, speaking in the context of a possible Ukraine peace deal, that Moscow will avoid compromises that would jeopardise people’s lives, Russian agencies reported. He reiterated Russia’s stance that it will under no conditions accept the presence of NATO troops in Ukraine, should there be a permanent peace settlement. Russia calls US actions in Asia ‘destructive’ at ASEAN summit Lavrov made the remarks on Tuesday but the interview was published on Wednesday. Reuters

SHANGHAI: China’s yuan climbed to a four-month high against the dollar on Wednesday, as the greenback was hobbled by US economic worries caused by President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policies. Trump reversed course on Tuesday afternoon on a pledge to double tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada to 50%, just hours after announcing the higher tariffs, in rapid-fire moves that confused financial markets. The dollar index edged up in early Asian trade, after dropping overnight to its lowest level since October 2024. China’s onshore and offshore yuan both firmed to the stronger side of 7.22 per dollar in early…

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan on Tuesday condemned Israel’s decision to cut electricity supply to the war-battered Gaza Strip, calling in separate statements for the international community to take action. Israel announced on Sunday it was disconnecting the only power line to a water desalination plant in Gaza, in an effort to pressure Palestinian militant group Hamas into releasing hostages amid an apparent impasse in truce talks.

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Tuesday said that due to stringent measures against cross-border smuggling, sugar has been exported instead of being smuggled to Afghanistan. Addressing a press conference alongside Federal Minister for Information, Attaullah Tarar, the finance minister highlighted the government’s reform agenda. “This is the first time that sugar has not been smuggled to Afghanistan, it has been exported,” he said, adding that the country need “every single dollar” to balance its current account. Aurangzeb informed that on the directives of the prime minister the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has initiated an improved production monitoring system in…

BEIJING: China on Tuesday concluded one of its biggest political events of the year with a call to “struggle unrelentingly” for the country’s rise after a conclave dominated by a deepening confrontation with US, its largest trading partner. Nearly 3,000 delegates congregated in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on a dusty Tuesday afternoon before President Xi Jinping entered to the sound of rousing martial music.

President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran would not negotiate with the U.S. while being threatened, telling President Donald Trump to “do whatever the hell you want”, Iranian state media reported on Tuesday. “It is unacceptable for us that they (the U.S.) give orders and make threats. I won’t even negotiate with you. Do whatever the hell you want”, state media quoted Pezeshkian as saying. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that Tehran would not be bullied into negotiations, a day after Trump said he had sent a letter urging Iran to engage in talks on a new nuclear…

Rupee’s Performance Against US Dollar Since 16 Jan 2025 The Pakistani rupee recorded marginal improvement against the US dollar, appreciating 0.04% in the inter-bank market on Tuesday. At close, the currency settled at 279.95, a gain of Re0.12 against the greenback. On Monday, the rupee had closed at 280.07. The last time the rupee closed below 280 against the US dollar was in January 2024. Internationally, the yen was investors’ safe harbour of choice on Tuesday and it traded near five-month highs as fears about a tariff-driven slowdown in US growth have rattled US stocks and the US dollar. The…

CAIRO: An Israeli air strike killed four Palestinians in Gaza on Tuesday, the territory’s civil emergency service said, as Arab mediators and the United States tried to hammer out differences between Hamas and Israel over a January 19 ceasefire agreement. The Israeli military said its air force attacked “terrorists who were engaged in a suspicious activity on the ground in central Gaza and posed a threat to the force.” Israel sent a delegation to the Qatari capital, Doha, for more ceasefire talks, and Hamas leaders ended a round of talks in Cairo earlier this week. But there has been no…

MUMBAI: Indian telecom operator Bharti Airtel said on Tuesday it had signed an agreement with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to bring Starlink’s satellite internet service to customers in the world’s most populous country. The potential launch of Starlink, which provides high-speed internet access to remote locations by low Earth orbit satellites, has been accompanied by fierce political debate in India. Musk has butted heads with Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, over how the satellite spectrum should be awarded but also met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington last month. Indian media reports also said last month Starlink’s licence application was…

OCCUPPIED JERUSALEM: Israel’s military said on Tuesday that its warplanes struck southern Syria overnight, targeting air defence systems and other military sites in the latest attack on the neighbouring country. Syrian state media had said Israel hit the southern province of Daraa, with a war monitor reporting at least 17 strikes on positions of the former Syrian army, including an observation platform and tanks. A statement from the Israeli military said its “fighter jets struck radars and detection assets used for constructing aerial intelligence assessments” as well as “command positions and military sites containing weapons and military equipment belonging to…