Thursday, August 27, 2009

KARACHI: The rupee was firmer against dollar on currency market on Wednesday despite the higher demand for the US currency, money analysts said. On the interbank market the rupee rose by 3 paisa against dollar for buying and selling at 82.70 and 82.80, experts said.

Amid third Asian session yen and dollar slipped, giving back early gains, as volatile Chinese shares rose and crude trimmed its losses, helping higher-yielding and commodity-linked currencies back from the day's lows.

OPEN MARKET RATES: The rupee rose by 10 paisa more against dollar for buying and selling at 82.70 and 82.80, dealers said. The rupee, however, fell in relation to euro shedding 10 paisa for buying at Rs 117.65 and losing 20 paisa for selling at Rs 118.25, they said.


Open Buying Rs 82.70 Open Selling Rs.82.80



Interbank Closing Rates: Interbank Closing Rates For Dollar On Wednesday.



Buying Rs.82.75 Selling Rs.82.80



(BRecorder)



Thursday, August 27, 2009


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BRUSSELS (AFP): Europe s economy has not made a firm recovery from the global downturn despite some encouraging signs, EU Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said Tuesday. The impact of the financial and economic crisis is still tangible in Europe and we have much still to do, he said at a joint press conference with Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite.Lithuania is suffering the worst recession in the European Union. Several European countries are seeing encouraging signs of recovery but firm recovery is not here yet, he cautioned. While Germany and France have pulled out of recession and have nearly managed to bring the rest of the eurozone with them, analysts say much of the recovery is due to massive government stimulus measures for businesses.Unemployment is also rising as companies struggle to stay viable.


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Thursday, August 27, 2009

ISLAMABAD:Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin said due to prudent economic policies initiated by the present government the economy is witnessing stability and positive results were coming out. Talking to PTV he said inflation was coming down and remittances were increasing, which was very positive for recovery of the economy and its growth. Answering a question, the minister said that the government was on board in revenue targets and efforts were being made to enhance tax to GDP ration and achieve revenue targets set for the current year. Shaukat Tarin said under the new remittances policy, the government was providing incentives to facilitate the overseas Pakistanis to encourage them to send their remittance to the country. He said that in this connection, facilitation cell had been set up in Karachi which would work around the clock.


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LONDON: World oil prices briefly struck 75 dollars per barrel on Tuesday for the first time in ten months, as traders reacted to rebounding consumer confidence in key energy consumer the United States.
In late afternoon trade here, New York s main contract, light sweet crude for October delivery, spiked to 75.00 dollars exactly — reaching a level last seen in October 2008 before the global recession. However, the contract later pulled back to 73.45 dollars, down 80 cents from Monday s closing level. And London Brent North Sea oil for October fell 42 cents to 73.95 dollars a barrel. It was very much a knee-jerk reaction, said Hanson Westhouse analyst David Hart, adding that there was a lack of buying interest to maintain prices above the key 75-dollar level. The logical conclusion to draw is that prices are going to go higher, Hart added. US consumer confidence rose more than expected in August after two consecutive months of declines, buoyed by a jump in recovery hopes for the coming months, the Conference Board announced on Tuesday. The business research firm said its consumer confidence index climbed to 54.1 in August from an upwardly revised 47.4 in July.

The rebound in confidence was stronger than the 47.9 reading that most analysts had expected. The index had hit an eight-month peak of 54.8 in May. The August data had a great deal of impact and was probably responsible for the whole move higher, Hart added. Consumer confidence is very closely tied to the US economy — 70 percent of the economy is driven by consumer spending and if the consumer is feeling better then that bodes well for the economy, which is good for energy demand. Crude futures had already powered to 10-month peaks on Monday amid growing hopes for global economic recovery and China s strong oil data. Markets also found a springboard from US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke s positive comments on Friday about the outlook for recovery from global recession. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, who was reappointed to a second four-year term on Tuesday, had said last week that prospects for growth appear good despite financial market strains. European Central Bank boss Trichet also predicted last week that the world s economic free fall was over. Oil prices have slumped since striking record highs above 147 dollars in July 2008 as a vicious global recession slashed energy demand. They have since clawed back ground on recovery hopes. The market also got a major boost on Monday from data out of China — the world s second-biggest energy consuming nation after the United States. Chinese demand for oil increased for the fourth consecutive month in July, said analysts at JBC Energy in Vienna. Year-on-year, oil consumption — excluding stock changes — was up by some 3.5 percent, they noted. Traders will switch their focus on Wednesday to the weekly oil inventories report from the US government s Department of Energy.


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Thursday, August 27 2009


A massive shortage in sugar stocks in India and Pakistan has led to soaring prices and consumer unrest, BBC reported on Tuesday. The Indian govt has introduced strict limits on companies that stockpile sugar to check rising prices. Shortages led Pakistan s government to nearly double sugar prices causing public outrage ahead of the fasting month of Ramadan. The price of raw sugar worldwide has increased to its highest level since 1981, as supply concerns grow.


India is the largest consumer of sugar in the world and the 2nd largest producer but poor monsoon rains have slashed output, forcing it to rely on imports. A newspaper report says India s sugar stocks have decline to 4.5m tonnes - just enough to meet two months of domestic demand. The Indian government said bulk sugar buyers, such as biscuit manufacturers, would be allowed to store only 15 days supply. In Pakistan, a production shortfall has sent sugar prices up manifold over the last couple of months. Consumers have expressed unease about the price rises particularly ahead of the fasting month of Ramadan, when food consumption usually goes up. However, the Interior Ministry has warned factory owners that they must release sugar stocks or risk punitive action. While sugar production has fallen to around 3.7m tonnes this year from more than 4.5m tonnes last year. The govt says it is importing 175,000 tonnes of sugar on an emergency basis to meet domestic demand. Global sugar prices have been pushed up by growing demand in Brazil for sugar to be turned into ethanol for vehicle fuel and a sharp fall in production in India.

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KARACHI: Teledensity reached 62.3 per cent in the country in July this year, almost 110bps higher than the preceding month, according to data released by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). The cellular segment witnessed a decent trend with a penetration level of 58.50 per cent.


On the other hand, wireless local loop (WLL) and landline penetrations remained stagnant at 2.2 per cent and 1.6 per cent, respectively. On collective basis, fixed line (WLL + landline) penetration came to 3.8 per cent during July 2009. In July 2009, the cellular segment witnessed the third consecutive month of one million monthly additions after the average additions of 250,000 for almost nine months since July 2008. In July 2009, mobile subscribers rose to a total of 95.55 million. On segregated basis, Mobilink remained the market leader with 29.5 million (31 per cent) subscribers while the second position was secured by Telenor with 21.3 million (22 per cent) followed by Ufone with 21 per cent market share. The highest monthly additions were achieved by Mobilink with 414,000 new subscribers followed by Telenor and Warid with 406,000 and 255,000 new subscribers respectively. The WLL segment recorded 35,000 new additions during the month and the total reached 2.65 million. According to the data, the primary contribution in this regard was from Worldcall with 13,000 additions to its subscriber base to 0.56 million while Telecard subscribers reached 626,000. Segment giant PTCL witnessed an increase in its subscribers to 1.31 million. On market share basis, PTCL still remains the market leader in the segment with 49 per cent market share while this position is succeeded by Telecard and Worldcall with almost 24 per cent and 21 per cent market shares, respectively. In the land line segment, overall subscribers during 9MFY09 further declined by 202k subscribers to 3.52 million as against the level of 3.72 million during 6MFY09.

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