Author: Finance for Sight

SEOUL: South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol appeared at a Seoul court on Thursday for the first hearing of his criminal trial over insurrection charges, during which his lawyers demanded his release from jail. TV footage aired by local broadcasters showed justice ministry vehicles leaving the Seoul Detention Centre where Yoon is being held before arriving at the court where lines of police buses were parked outside to ensure security. The court heard a bid by Yoon’s lawyers to cancel his detention as they argued that the insurrection probe had been conducted in an illegal manner, and that there…

India’s benchmark indexes closed marginally lower on Thursday as a pullback in financial services on concerns over a likely hike in bank deposit insurance coverage offset gains in metal companies. The Nifty 50 ended the day 0.09% lower at 22,913.15, while the BSE Sensex fell 0.27% to 75,735.96. After slipping to their lowest since early June on Friday, the benchmarks have been little changed this week. While the recent correction has hit stocks with lofty valuations hard, it has also lowered valuations for some quality companies across the market, said Arun Malhotra, founder and CIO at CapGrow Capital. On the…

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE/ WASHINGTON: U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he expected Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit the United States without giving a timeline for his trip. Trump made the remarks to reporters on Air Force One and said “it’s possible” for the U.S. and China to have a new trade deal. A conversation or interaction between Xi and Trump is seen as crucial to a potential easing or delay of trade tariffs. “We’ll have, ultimately, President Xi, we will have everybody coming (to the U.S.),” Trump said while also speaking about others leaders visiting the United…

Oil prices were little changed on Thursday after rising to a near one-week high in the previous session, as an industry report showing a buildup in U.S. crude stockpiles weighed on sentiment. Brent futures were up 20 cents at $76.24 a barrel by 0600 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 30 cents to $71.95. The March contract expires on Thursday, while the more active April contract rose 21 cents to $72.31. U.S. crude stocks rose by 3.34 million barrels last week, market sources said, citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Wednesday. Official oil inventory data from the U.S. Energy…

JERUSALEM: Hamas handed over the bodies on Thursday of Israeli infant Kfir Bibas and his four-year-old brother Ariel, the two youngest captives taken by Hamas in their October 7, 2023 attack and among the most potent symbols of the trauma inflicted that day. Red Cross vehicles drove away from the handover site in the Gaza Strip with four black coffins that had been placed on a stage. Each of the caskets had a small picture of the hostages. Hamas handed over the bodies of the two boys and their mother Shiri Bibas, along with that of a fourth hostage, Oded…

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures dipped on Thursday, weighed down by profit-taking, while traders awaited clarity on Indonesia’s potential revisions to its palm oil export levy. The benchmark palm oil contract for May delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had slid 15 ringgit, or 0.32%, to 4,657 ringgit ($1,051.72) a metric ton by the midday break. The contract rose 3.73% in the previous session. The market traded lower after shedding some of its gains made on Wednesday, said Anilkumar Bagani, commodity research head at Mumbai-based Sunvin Group. Bagani added that market speculation regarding Indonesia’s palm oil export restrictions…

Children in Australia are able to easily bypass the minimum age limit imposed by social media platforms, a report by the country’s online safety regulator showed on Thursday, ahead of a landmark ban by the government on access for those under 16. ESafety’s report combined results from a national survey on social media usage by eight to 15-year olds, along with responses from eight services including Alphabet’s YouTube, Meta’s Facebook and Amazon’s Twitch. In November, Australia approved a social media ban, for children under 16, setting a benchmark for jurisdictions around the world. The ban is set to take effect…

Oil prices edged lower on Thursday after an industry report showing a build in US crude stockpiles weighed on sentiment, falling back from gains made in the previous session on worries over supply disruptions in Russia. Brent futures were down 17 cents at $75.87 a barrel by 0600 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 30 cents to $71.95. The March contract expires on Thursday and the more active April contract eased 22 cents to $71.88. Oil prices, which held near a one-week high on Wednesday, were on track to snap a three-session winning streak on Thursday. US crude stocks…

The buying rally continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining over 500 points during the intraday trading on Thursday. At 12:35pm, the benchmark index hovered at 113,907.75, an increase of 565.32 points or 0.5%. Buying interest was observed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, refineries and power generation. Index-heavy stocks including HUBCO, PRL, PSO, SHEL, SNGPL, MARI, OGDC, MCB, MEBL and UBL traded in the green. On Wednesday, bullish momentum continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index closing the day at…

ATHENS: Europe should wake up and build its own defence policy following a dramatic shift by the United States over Ukraine and geopolitical developments in recent months, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said late on Wednesday. US President Donald Trump upended US policy on the Ukraine war this week, denouncing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as a “dictator” and suggesting Kyiv started the three year war between Ukraine and Russia. Trump warned that Zelenskiy had to move quickly to secure peace or risk losing his country, deepening a feud between the two leaders that has alarmed European officials. The US and…