Author: Finance for Sight

KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday accused Donald Trump of succumbing to Russian “disinformation”, deepening a rift between Kyiv and the new US administration. Speaking to reporters at a press conference on Tuesday, Trump echoed many of Russia’s talking points on the three-year war in Ukraine, blaming Kyiv for having “started” the fighting and suggesting Zelensky was hugely unpopular. Trump claimed his Ukrainian counterpart had a minimal approval rating in his country — despite polls showing otherwise. Zelensky hit back, saying that “unfortunately, President Trump, for whom we have great respect as leader of the American people… lives in…

Buying spree continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining nearly 400 points on Thursday. The KSE-100 witnessed buying for most part of the day, hitting an intra-day high of 114,202.14, a gain of around 860 points as compared to the previous day. However, some selling in the second half trimmed the intra-day gains. At close, the benchmark index settled at 113,739.16, up by 396.72 points or 0.35%. “The KSE-100 Index showed a positive trend, bolstered by strong results,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report. This uptick was mainly driven by CHCC,…

DUBAI: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has invited the leaders of Gulf Arab countries, Egypt, and Jordan for a meeting in Riyadh on Friday, the Saudi state news agency SPA reported on Thursday. Arab states have pledged to work on a post-war plan for the Gaza Strip’s reconstruction to counter U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to redevelop the enclave as an international beach resort after resettling its Palestinian inhabitants elsewhere. Saudi Arabia said Friday’s meeting would be unofficial and held within “the framework of the close brotherly relations that bring together the leaders”, SPA said. Gaza Arab plan may…

Foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) increased by $35 million on a weekly basis, clocking in at $11.20 billion as of February 14, data released on Thursday showed. Total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $15.95 billion. Net foreign reserves held by commercial banks stood at $4.75 billion. The central bank did not specify a reason for increase in the reserves. “During the week ended on 14-Feb-2025, SBP reserves increased by US$ 35 million to US$ 11,201.5 million,” it said. Last week, SBP foreign exchange reserves decreased by $252 million.

COLOMBO: A Sri Lankan passenger train derailed Thursday after smashing into a family of elephants, with no passengers injured but six animals killed in the island’s worst such wildlife accident, police said. The express train was travelling near a wildlife reserve at Habarana, some 180 kilometres (110 miles) east of the capital Colombo, when it hit the herd crossing the line before dawn. “The train derailed, but there were no casualties among the passengers,” police said, adding that wildlife authorities were treating two elephants who survived the crash. Police and railway personnel examine a derailed train at Habarana in eastern…

FRANKFURT: The European Central bank on Thursday reported a record loss in 2024 after it had aggressively hiked eurozone interest rates in response to soaring inflation. The ECB lost 7.9 billion euros ($8.3 billion) last year, the second-straight year the Frankfurt-based institution has been in the red. In 2023, the central bank was down 1.3 billion euros, its first loss since 2004 after an extended period of relatively low borrowing costs. The figure for 2023 would have been similar to last year’s had the ECB not deployed all the 6.6 billion euros set aside to soak up losses. The ECB…

SEOUL: North Korean state media on Thursday criticized the United States for a nuclear submarine deal with Australia under the AUKUS partnership signed in 2021, calling it a “threat to regional peace.” A commentary carried by KCNA said Washington should be wary of consequences for what it said were nuclear alliances, naming AUKUS and the trilateral cooperation with South Korea and Japan. Australia just made its first $500 million payment to the U.S. under the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal. Under AUKUS, Australia will pay the United States $3 billion to boost the capacity of the U.S. submarine industry, and Washington…

The Pakistani rupee remained largely stable against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Thursday. At close, the rupee settled at 279.46, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback. The rupee had closed at 279.47 on Wednesday. Internationally, the yen firmed and the US dollar held steady on Thursday as investors pondered what US President Donald Trump’s latest tariff agenda would mean for the global economy and how it could affect the interest rate outlook for major central banks. Geopolitics also loomed large after Trump referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as a “dictator” amid talks to end the…

BEIRUT, LEBANON: Lebanon’s Hezbollah is preparing for a massive turnout for the funeral on Sunday of its slain leader Hassan Nasrallah, an opportunity for a show of strength by Hezbollah after a bruising war with Israel. Nasrallah’s death nearly five months ago in a huge Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs left Hezbollah supporters in disbelief and sent shockwaves across Lebanon and the region. The country will stop for Sunday’s funeral, to be held at 1:00 pm (1100 GMT) at the Camille Chamoun sports stadium on the capital’s outskirts. Hezbollah has announced strict security measures and urged security forces to…

SHANGHAI: China and Hong Kong stocks dropped on Thursday following U.S. President Donald Trump’s fresh tariff threats, though losses were limited as analysts said the rally in Chinese stocks, driven by the DeepSeek breakthrough, still has momentum. China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index ended the session down 0.3%, while the Shanghai Composite Index was flat, as Beijing left benchmark lending rates unchanged at the monthly fixing. Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index declined 1.6%, dragged by a sharp correction in technology stocks. Markets in Asia wobbled after Trump said he would announce tariffs related to lumber, cars, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals “over the…