Bears took over at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as shares plunged more than 800 points on Tuesday. The benchmark KSE-100 index plunged 834.24 points, or 1.1 per cent, to stand at 74,741.01 at 3:09pm from the previous close of 75,575.25 points. Raza Jafri, chief executive of EFG Hermes Pakistan, said, “Buyers seem to be shying away as they await the federal budget, as this could impact monetary policy setting. “The market has thus come off on relatively thin volumes,” he noted. Mohammed Sohail, chief executive of Topline Securities, credited the bearish momentum to the delay in budget and selling…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
Indian shares plunged over 8 per cent on Tuesday, set for their worst day in four years and erasing their gains for 2024, as vote-counting trends showed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s alliance falling short of a predicted landslide victory. Modi’s bloc looked set to secure a majority in early vote counting in the general election on Tuesday, but the numbers were well short of the landslide predicted in exit polls. The NSE Nifty 50 index was down 7.2 per cent at 21,605 points as of 12:41 pm, and the S&P BSE Sensex fell 6.6pc to 71,366. The indexes fell as much as 8.5pc, poised for their…
ISLAMABAD: The announcement of the federal budget for 2024-25 remains in unusual limbo, with key customary ingredients still missing, casting doubts on its presentation in parliament on June 10. Sources said the critical National Economic Council (NEC) meeting, essential for reviewing the current year’s macroeconomic situation and development programme and approving the next year’s economic and development agenda, has yet to be scheduled. In fact, the government has yet to constitute the National Economic Council. Also, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb will be on a four-day visit to China and thus unavailable to lead key consultations until June 8.…
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has selected six companies qualified to bid to buy national carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), the privatisation minister said on Monday. The announcement came a couple of weeks after Pakistan had extended the date for submitting expressions of interest. A total of eight companies and consortiums had expressed an interest. Air Blue, Arif Habib Corporation, Blue World City, Fly Jinnah, Pak Ethanol (Pvt) Consortiums, and YB Holdings Consortiums emerged as the finalists, said a statement from the office of Abdul Aleem Khan. “The pre-qualified companies can take part in the bids for the PIA,” he said. The government has…
GENEVA: A group of United Nations experts called on Monday for all countries to recognise a Palestinian state to ensure peace in the Middle East. The call came less than a week after Spain, Ireland and Norway officially recognised a Palestinian state, prompting anger from Israel, which has found itself increasingly isolated after nearly eight months of aggression in Gaza. The experts, including the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Palestinian territories, said recognition of a Palestinian state was an important acknowledgement of the rights of the Palestinian people and their struggle towards freedom and independence. “This…
WILMINGTON: Jury selection kicked off in a criminal case against Hunter Biden, a historic prosecution that could further influence the 2024 presidential election four days after Joe Biden’s rival Donald Trump became the first former US president to be convicted. Hunter Biden, 54, arrived at the courthouse for the first trial of the child of a sitting president, in which he will face three felony charges stemming from his purchase and possession of a revolver in 2018. He is charged with lying about his use of illegal drugs when he bought a Colt Cobra .38-caliber revolver and with illegally possessing…
PARIS: French police arrested three people on Monday after five empty coffins wrapped in French flags with the words “French soldiers from Ukraine” written on them were found near the Eiffel Tower on Saturday. The public prosecutors have requested that the three individuals, who are from Bulgaria, Germany and Ukraine and who are all under 30 years old, be charged with premeditated violence. Prosecutors said leaving coffins at the foot of the Eiffel Tower was an act of psychological violence. France could soon send military trainers to Ukraine despite the concerns of some allies and criticism by Russia, diplomatic sources…
BEIJING: China on Monday accused Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) of recruiting a couple who worked for the central government to spy for the UK, adding to months of mutual espionage allegations between Beijing and Western powers. The Ministry of State Security said in a post on its official WeChat that MI6 operatives convinced a man surnamed Wang, who worked in a “core confidential role” in the central state apparatus, to defect along with his wife, surnamed Zhou. “Recently, after careful investigation, the national security organs uncovered a major espionage case in which the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) instigated a couple,…
GENEVA: The return of the cooling La Nina weather phenomenon this year should help lower temperatures somewhat after months of global heat records, the United Nations’ weather agency said on Monday. The impact is likely to be felt in the next few months because the warming El Nino weather pattern — which has helped fuel a spike in global temperatures and extreme weather around the world since mid-2023 — “is showing signs of ending”, the UN’s World Meteorological Organisation said in its latest update. The WMO warned, however, that global temperatures would continue to rise in the long term due…
LONDON: The well-known Brexit figurehead politician Nigel Farage announced on Monday that he plans to stand for the general election in the United Kingdom. The general election is scheduled to take place next month and the major U-turn threatens to split the right-wing vote and further imperil the beleaguered Conservative Party. Farage, who is now 60-years-old, says he will run for the anti-immigration Reform UK Party, in a ‘eurosceptic’ seat in the southeast of England. He announced his plans to contest the polls, less than two weeks after ruling himself out of the July 4 contest. He will also return…
