Posts for 'Business' Category

The World Bank has announced a grant of $900 million for relief and reconstruction work following the floods in Pakistan that have cost the nation around Rs.250 billion, a media report said on Friday. Pakistan is grappling with its worst ever floods that have left over 1,600 people dead and affected over 14 million people.

A report in the Dawn put the total economic loss due to floods at around Rs.250 billion.  The World Bank's Pakistan Director Rachid Benmessaoud met with Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh on Thursday and announced a grant of $900 million for relief and reconstruction.

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Bears reigned supreme at the Karachi stock market on Tuesday as the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) kept the discount rate unchanged in its monetary policy, which propelled investors to offload their holdings.

The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) 100-share index shed 258.97 points or 2.67 percent to close at 9,428.44 points as compared to previous session’s 9,687.41 points. The KSE 30-share index closed at 9,402.04 points with a loss of 297.22 points. The KMI 30 closed at 14,333.91 points with a fall of 336.84 points. The KSE 100 all-share index closed at 6,621.97 points, with a decline of 186.36 points. Analysts said the market opened in the red zone and this sentiment remained prevalent throughout the trading session in the wake of ongoing political uncertainty over the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) case restricting investors from holding their positions. The market at one stage fell more than 3 percent.

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The Karachi share market on Wednesday remained under pressure despite healthy results announcement by blue-chip companies as downslide in the global markets following financial problems in Europe left its impact on the bourse.

“Equities remained under selling pressure, even healthy earnings by Engro and HUBCO failed to excite the market, which was probably taking queue from the regional markets witnessing selling, owing to problems in Europe,” said Sara Shahid, an analyst at Elixir Securities. "Locals remain quiet for now until volumes increase,” she said.

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The euro rose against the dollar and yen in Asia Friday as remarks by European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet in support of potential International Monetary Fund aid for Greece prompted U.S. hedge funds to pick up the single currency.

Traders said the euro's near term direction will depend on how euro-zone leaders conclude their discussions on the issue later in the day. Leaders at a two-day summit in Brussels have so far backed a deal under which they and the IMF would jointly bail out Greece should the country's debt troubles intensify.

Speaking at a news conference during Asian morning hours, Trichet said joint financial aid for Greece from the EU and IMF would be a "workable solution," and denied criticizing the inclusion of IMF financing in any rescue package.

On Thursday, the euro fell after Trichet said in a prerecorded television interview that IMF aid for Greece, instead of from euro-zone member countries, would be "very, very bad." The currency stood at $1.3334 as of 0350 GMT, compared with its New York level of $1.3282 late Thursday, and was at Y123.51 compared with Y123.13.

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The world prices for oil, following the results of the tenders on Thursday have gone down, the agency reports citing RIA RosBusinessConsulting (RBC). According to RBC, the prices of the world market for oil, following the results of the tenders at the leading oil stock exchanges, went down on January 28, 2010. The official prices of oil futures of the next month of delivery have amounted to: in London on InterContinental Exchange Futures Europe - IPE Brent Crude - $72.13 (-0.11) per barrel and in New York on New York Mercantile Exchange - Light, Sweet Crude Oil - $73.64 (-0.03) per barrel.

The euro fell to a 20-week low against the dollar in Asia on Wednesday as short-term players in the region reacted to more negative news on the euro-zone economy overnight, and to falls in Chinese share markets, by offloading the risk-sensitive common currency.

The selling pushed the euro initially below $1.4250, which in turn tripped a large accumulation of automated selling orders, sending it to a low at $1.4180. That was the lowest the unit has traded since hitting $1.4177 on Sept. 1 last year.

Lingering concerns over the fiscal health of Greece, a euro-member, could pressure the currency down to around $1.4000 later this week, traders said. Data released overnight showed that Germany's ZEW economic expectations index fell for the fourth month in a row. The result hurt the euro by adding to speculation the European Central Bank may lag the U.S. Federal Reserve in raising interest rates, dealers said.

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Within days of throwing Burj Khalifa open to public, Dubai added yet another feat to its repertoire of skyscrapers launching a 72-floor tower structure declared the world's tallest hotel.

A leading hotel management company has inaugurated the city's latest landmark, which is certified as the tallest hotel in the world by the Guinness Book of World Records.

The tower, Rose Rayhaan by Rotana, is a soaring 72 floor tower structure, 333 metres high and offers 482 rooms.

The latest launch came just two days after the much-awaited opening of Burj Dubai, renamed as Burj Khalifa -- the world's tallest tower that stretches over 800 metres in height.

"Rose Rayhaan is not only the tallest hotel in the world but also the UAE flagship for Rotana's alcohol-free brand Rayhaan Hotels & Resorts.

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Dubai is set to open the world’s tallest building amid tight security today, celebrating the tower as a bold feat on the world stage despite the city-state’s shaky financial footing. The height of the Burj Dubai remained a closely guarded secret on the eve of its opening.

At a reported height of 2,684 feet, it long ago vanquished its nearest rival, the Taipei 101 in Taiwan. The building boasts the most stories and highest occupied floor of any building and ranks as the world’s tallest structure, beating out a television mast in North Dakota.

“We weren’t sure how high we could go,’’ said Bill Baker, the building’s structural engineer. “It was kind of an exploration. . . . A learning experience.’’ Baker, of the Chicago architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, said early designs had the Burj edging out the previous record-holder, the Taipei 101, by about 33 feet.

The Taiwan tower rises 1,667 feet.The Burj’s developer, Emaar Properties, kept pushing the design higher even after construction began, eventually putting it about 984 feet taller than its nearest competitor, Baker said. He was keeping quiet about the exact height.

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The IMF data showed the dollar's share of the roughly $4.4 trillion of world reserves of which the composition is known fell to 61.6 percent between July and September, from 62.8 percent in the prior quarter. The euro's share of known reserves edged up to 27.7 percent from 27.4 percent and the yen share rose to 3.2 percent from 3.1 percent, the data showed.

Holdings of "other currencies" -- a reference to currencies other than the dollar, euro, yen, sterling or Swiss franc -- showed the biggest shift. Though a small share of the known reserves, so-called other currency holdings rose to 2.9 percent from 2.2 percent.

"Our main takeaway -- central banks are unenthusiastic about any of the 'G3' at the valuations that prevailed in the third quarter, and their diversification into small currencies probably represented a significant part of the impetus these currencies experienced," Barclays currency strategist Steven Englander wrote in a note to clients.

Commodity-linked currencies such as the Canadian and Australian dollars and the Brazilian real all rose against the dollar, euro and yen, which comprise the G3. Russia's central bank also said this month it intended to add Canadian dollars to its roughly $444 billion of gold and foreign exchange reserves, though it said the overall share will likely remain below 2 percent.

Abu Dhabi provided $10 billion to help Dubai World, the state-owned holding company, avoid defaulting on a $4.1 billion bond payment that roiled global financial markets during the past month. Dubai World will use the money to cover debt of real-estate unit Nakheel PJSC that comes due today.

The rest of the money will cover Dubai World’s interest and operating costs until the company reaches a standstill agreement with its creditors, Dubai’s government said in an e-mailed statement.

After the emirate and its state-controlled companies borrowed $80 billion to diversify away from dwindling oil supplies, Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has been forced to seek Abu Dhabi’s help three times this year as the global financial crisis dried up credit and triggered a property crash in the city state.

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