Author: Finance for Sight

CAIRO: Arab foreign ministers said on Wednesday they would continue consultations with U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy over Egypt’s plan for rebuilding the Gaza Strip, an alternative to Trump’s proposed takeover of the Palestinian territory. Consultations and coordination on the plan would continue with the U.S. special envoy, Steve Witkoff, as a “basis for the reconstruction efforts” in Gaza, according to a joint statement following a meeting of the foreign ministers in Doha. Earlier this month, Arab leaders adopted a $53 billion Egyptian reconstruction plan for Gaza that would avoid displacing Palestinians from the enclave, in contrast to Trump’s…

The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 closed marginally lower after the index failed to sustain the gains it had made during intra-day trading on Wednesday. The KSE-100 started the session positive, hitting an intra-day high of 114,661.89, followed by some selling that pushed the index to an intra-day low of 114,001.50. At close, the benchmark index settled at 114,084.54, marginally down by 93.12 points or 0.08%. The positive movement was primarily fuelled by MARI, BAHL, MLCF, PABC, and DGKC, which together contributed 147 points to the index. Conversely, FFC, OGDC, and ENGROH weighed on the market, pulling the index…

BEIRUT: At least 1,383 civilians, the vast majority of them Alawites, were killed in a recent wave of violence that gripped Syria’s Mediterranean coast, a war monitor said Wednesday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the civilians were killed in “executions by security forces and allied groups” after the violence broke out last week in the coastal heartland of the Alawite minority, to which toppled president Bashar al-Assad belongs. The Britain-based Observatory added that even as the violence subsided, the toll was still rising as bodies continued to be discovered, many on farmland or in their homes. The latest…

Rupee’s Performance Against US Dollar Since 17 Jan 2025 The Pakistani rupee remained largely stable against the US dollar, depreciating 0.01% in the inter-bank market on Wednesday. At close, the currency settled at 279.97, a loss of Re0.02 against the greenback. On Tuesday, the rupee had closed at 279.95. Internationally, the US dollar languished near a five-month low versus major peers on Wednesday, as worries about the US economy continued to simmer under President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policies. The euro hovered close to a five-month peak on increased optimism for an end to the war in Ukraine. The Canadian…

The European Union will impose counter tariffs on 26 billion euros ($28.33 billion) worth of US goods from next month in response to US tariffs on steel and aluminium, the European Commission said in a statement on Wednesday. The commission said it will end the current suspension of tariffs on US products on April 1 and will also put forward a new package of countermeasures on US goods by mid-April. “This matches the economic scope of the US tariffs. Our countermeasures will be introduced in two steps. Starting with 1 April and fully in place as of 13 April,” Ursula…

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.