Sep 06, 2019: European stock markets mostly rose in opening deals on Friday, after another bright performance in Asia.
In initial trade, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of major blue-chip firms weakened 0.2 percent to 7,255.83 points compared with Thursday's closing level.
In the eurozone, the Paris benchmark CAC 40 index firmed 0.1 percent to 5,595.92 and Frankfurt's DAX 30 advanced 0.3 percent at 12,161.66 points.
AFP/APP
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Feb 27, 2020 (MLN): Pakistan's Forex Reserves decreased by USD 4.30 Million or 0.02% and the total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at USD 18,742.80 Million on Feb 21, 2020.
According to data published by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) its reserves increased by USD 86.80 Million. However, reserves held by commercial banks declined by a further USD 91.10 million.
| Foreign reserves held by | Feb 21, 2020 | Feb 14, 2020 | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State Bank of Pakistan | 12,591.50 | 12,504.70 | 86.80 | 0.69% |
| Net Foreign Reserves Held by Banks | 6,151.30 | 6,242.40 | -91.10 | -1.46% |
| Total Liquid Foreign Reserves | 18,742.80 | 18,747.10 | -4.30 | -0.02% |
Amount in USD Million
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February 27, 2020 (MLN): The KSE-100 index on Thursday became heavily exposed to the tension and anxiety surrounding the plague, the two cases of which were detected in the country earlier on Wednesday.
As a result, the benchmark index lost nearly 1,300 points in the initial hours of the session, but was quick to recover as the points lost came down to only 251 points, with the index ultimately closing at 38,087-mark.
The Index remained negative throughout the session touching an intraday low of 36,920.17
Of the 95 traded companies in the KSE100 Index 25 closed up 68 closed down, while 2 remained unchanged. Total volume traded for the index was 186.77 million shares.
Sector wise, the index was let down by Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 131 points, Oil & Gas Marketing Companies with 50 points, Food & Personal Care Products with 42 points, Automobile Assembler with 25 points and Insurance with 25 points.
The most points taken off the index was by PPL which stripped the index of 55 points followed by OGDC with 46 points, POL with 31 points, BAHL with 24 points and NESTLE with 24 points.
Sectors propping up the index were Commercial Banks with 62 points, Cement with 27 points, Textile Composite with 7 points, Automobile Parts & Accessories with 5 points and Engineering with 2 points.
The most points added to the index was by UBL which contributed 62 points followed by HBL with 30 points, MCB with 21 points, LUCK with 16 points and ENGRO with 16 points.
All Share Volume increased by 101.30 Million to 249.24 Million Shares. Market Cap decreased by Rs.78.44 Billion.
Total companies traded were 361 compared to 348 from the previous session. Of the scrips traded 103 closed up, 244 closed down while 14 remained unchanged.
Total trades increased by 27,025 to 89,455.
Value Traded increased by 3.05 Billion to Rs.10.00 Billion
| Company | Volume |
|---|---|
| Unity Foods | 29,428,000 |
| Hascol Petroleum | 17,535,500 |
| Maple Leaf Cement Factory | 15,068,000 |
| The Bank of Punjab | 14,609,000 |
| TRG Pakistan | 9,350,000 |
| D.G. Khan Cement Company | 7,408,500 |
| Pakistan International Airlines Corp | 6,302,000 |
| Fauji Foods | 6,167,500 |
| Pakistan International Bulk Terminal | 5,700,000 |
| Fauji Cement Company | 5,352,500 |
| Sector | Volume |
|---|---|
| Cement | 40,249,100 |
| Vanaspati & Allied Industries | 29,480,700 |
| Oil & Gas Marketing Companies | 29,152,000 |
| Commercial Banks | 26,236,100 |
| Technology & Communication | 18,843,400 |
| Transport | 12,008,100 |
| Chemical | 11,464,040 |
| Power Generation & Distribution | 10,890,000 |
| Oil & Gas Exploration Companies | 9,674,680 |
| Engineering | 9,277,500 |
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February 27, 2020: Badar Shamim, former Chairman, Brampton Board of Trade, Canada and President, Candus International Consulting Thursday said that Pakistan’s ICT companies have great potential to explore business partnerships in Canada.
He along with Ms Margaux McDonald, Senior Trade Commissioner of Canada in Pakistan visited Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry and exchanged views with Muhammad Ahmed Waheed President, Tahir Abbasi Senior Vice President, Saif ur Rehman Vice President.
They also met with other members of the local business community for further improving bilateral trade and economic relations between Pakistan and Canada, said a press release.
Badar Shamim said that Canada has $800 billion annual trade with USA and Pakistan could get beneficial results for its economy by promoting trade cooperation with Canada.
He said that Canada has signed FTAs with G-7 Group countries and Pakistan can increase its exports to these countries by promoting trade with Canada.
He said that Pakistan could attract FDI by developing transparent trade laws and regulations.
He said that needs for capital and development projects were emerging in developing countries and his purpose of visiting Pakistan was to explore JVs and investment prospects for Canadian companies.
He assured that he would try to share information about business and investment opportunities in Canada for Pakistani companies with ICCI so that its members could capitalize on them.
Muhammad Ahmed Waheed, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that Pakistan was an emerging market and emphasized that Canadian investors explore JVs and investment with technology transfer to achieve lucrative results in Pakistan.
He said that many MNCs of the world were now taking a keen interest in Pakistan and time was ripe for Canadian companies to seriously look at business prospects in Pakistan.
He said that by investing in Pakistan, Canadian companies could get easy access to Central Asian and other markets.
He said that Pakistan-Canada bilateral trade was around 1.5 billion dollars, which was far less than the actual potential of both countries and stressed that both sides should make strong efforts for trade promotion.
He assured that ICCI would fully cooperate with Canadian companies in finding the right partners in Pakistan.
APP
February 27, 2020: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a further $2 million to help developing countries in Asia and the Pacific contain the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and improve resilience to this and other communicable diseases.
The funds will be available for all ADB developing member countries in updating and implementing their pandemic response plans, including buying emergency supplies and equipment; assessing health system and economic impacts to improve future resilience; and coordinating better regionally to prevent, detect, and respond to animal and human disease outbreaks, according to a new released issued here on Thursday.
The work will be conducted in close collaboration with the World Health Organization.
“The severity of the COVID-19 outbreak is escalating, and past disease outbreaks have had large impacts on social and economic development,” said ADB Vice-President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development Bambang Susantono.
“ADB’s funding will help countries catalyze efforts to mitigate further damage to the health of families and economies and position them to better respond to the current and future outbreaks.” Earlier in February, ADB provided $2 million in funds to strengthen the immediate response capacity in Cambodia, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Over the longer term, this can be scaled up to focus on supporting pandemic preparedness and building resilience.
ADB also provided a private sector loan of up to CNY130 million ($18.6 million) to Wuhan, PRC-based Jointown Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd. to enhance the distribution and supply of essential medicines and protective equipment.
Past epidemics have shown that impacts can rapidly extend to all areas of a country’s economy, triggering fiscal shocks with long-term negative consequences that threaten stability and economic growth. Countries and businesses that rely on tourism are particularly vulnerable. Trade and supply chains also suffer.
ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty.
APP
February 27, 2020: A delegation of APTMA and zero-rated Industries held negotiations with Government team which included Federal Minister for Power and Petroleum Mr Omar Ayub Khan, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, Mr Hamad Azhar, PM advisor on Petroleum Mr Nadeem Babar, Advisor on Industries and Commerce, Mr Abdul Razaq Dawood and Governor Punjab, Mr Muhammad Sarwar, yesterday evening.
The meeting discussed all matters relating to the textile and other zero-rated industries.
The meeting resolved all outstanding issues relating to energy tariff. The agreements reached will be budget neutral for Finance Division It was agreed by all parties that Government will provide a maximum of Rs. 20 Billion total subsidies for Power and Petroleum, in the form of cross-subsidy and/or allocation, in the next year budget.
The Government showed its resolve to provide all necessary support to these industries for the better economic growth of the country.
Press Release
