March 15, 2019 (MLN): Pakistan’s Current Account Deficit fell by 59.22 percent to USD 356 Million in February 2019 compared to January 2019.
According to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan, the July-Feb 19 Current Account Deficit fell by 22.56 percent to USD 8,844 Million compared to USD 11,421 Million during the corresponding period from last year.
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ISLAMABAD, May 22: According to Karachi Sarafa Association, the price of 24 karat gold decreased by Rs 800 on Wednesday and was traded at Rs 71, 300 per tola as compared to the last closing at Rs 72,100.
The price of 10 gram gold also witnessed decrease of Rs 686 and was traded at Rs 61,128 against Rs 61,814 of last day.
The price of silver remained constant and was traded at Rs 870 per tola and that of 10 grams silver was traded at Rs 745.88.
According to the Rawalpindi-Islamabad local Sarafa Association, the per tola price of 24-karat gold in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad remained constant at Rs 70,500 and that of 10 grams gold was traded at Rs 60,440.
In international market, the price of per ounce gold decreased by $2 and was traded at $1274 as compared to the last closing at $1276.
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May 22, 2019 (MLN): Pakistani rupee (PKR) closed today's trading session relatively unchanged against the USD with the rate remaing stable at PKR 151.95.
Alternatively, the currency gained 36 paisa against Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 192.46 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 192.82 per GBP.
On the other hand, PKR's value weakened by 21 paisa against EUR which closed at PKR 169.61 at the interbank today.
Within the Open Market, PKR was traded at 151.50/153.50 per USD.
On another note, within the money market, the State Bank of Pakistan is scheduled to conduct an MTB Auction today with an auction target of Rs.600 billion against a maturing amount of Rs.500.66 billion.
The central bank has received bids worth Rs.3.3 trillion, out of which only Rs.1.5 billion were for 6 months while no bid bids were made for the 12 month Treasury.
The lack of participation in longer tenors signals the markets view that interest rates will continue to rise in the up coming months.
The overnight repo rate towards close of the session was 10.75/11.00 percent, whereas the 1 week rate was 11.50/12.00 percent.
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May 22, 2019 (MLN): The KSE-100 index ended today’s session on a remarkable note, as it gained 1,195 points and reverted above 34,000-mark to 34,637 points. As pointed out earlier, the impact of a plausible equity bailout fund started to materialize steadily at the start of the week, and resulted in a full blown victory in today’s trading activity.
A number of sectors benefitted from this change of ether, with the most prominent ones being E&P companies, Fertilizer sector, and Commercial banks, as they collectively contributed nearly 703 points to the benchmark index.
Moreover, the scrips that emerged as the key performance drivers included FFC (+5.00%), POL (+5.00%), LUCK (+5.00%), EFERT (+5.00%), DAWH (+5.00%), OGDC (+4.98%), PPL (+4.99%) and HUBC (+4.99%).
The index remained positive throughout the day and touched an intraday high of 34,698 points. Moreover, the share prices of 80 companies reported an increase, whereas 10 companies reported a decrease. A total of 140 million shares were traded in today’s session, having a value of 4.8 billion.
The broader KSE All Share index ended the session on a corresponding note, as it gained around 711 points and closed at 25,529 points. It traded nearly 203 million shares, having a value of Rs. 5.3 billion.
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May 22, 2019 (MLN): The State Bank of Pakistan released the Bid Pattern for today's MTB Auction.
Auction Target is Rs.600 Billion against a maturing amount of Rs.500.663 Billion.
The SBP received bids worth Rs.3.268 trillion, out of which only Rs.1.5 billion were for 6 months while no bids were made for the 12 month Treasury.
This is the first auction since the SBP raised the Policy rate by 150 bps. The lack of participation in longer tenors signals the markets view that interest rates will continue to rise in the up coming months.
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May 22, 2019 (MLN): National Bank of Pakistan announced its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2019 on Wednesday, which shows that the bank has earned a Profit after Tax of Rs. 4.2 billion, i.e. around 16.2% lower as compared to Rs. 5.1 billion reported in same period of last year.
The Basic and Diluted earnings of the bank stood at Rs. 2 for the aforementioned period, as compared to Rs. 2.38 reported in corresponding period last year.
The fall in net earnings was a result of higher tax expenses, which transformed a positive change in PBT (+13.05%) into negative change in PAT (-16.26%).
The total income of the bank displayed a growth of 17.75%, whereas the total expenses jumped by 3.34%.
The bank did not recommended any Cash Dividend, Bonus issue / Right Shares or any other entitlement.
Consolidated financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2019 ('000 Rupees) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Mar-19 | Mar-18 | % Change | |
Mark-up/return/interest earned | 45,834,763 | 31,452,921 | 45.72% |
Mark-up/return/interest expensed | 30,220,126 | 17,263,619 | 75.05% |
Net mark-up/interest income | 15,614,637 | 14,189,302 | 10.05% |
NON MARK-UP/INTEREST INCOME | |||
Fee and commission income | 4,398,051 | 4,345,152 | 1.22% |
Dividend income | 1,017,955 | 317,261 | 220.86% |
Foreign Exchange income | 1,900,284 | 351,046 | 441.32% |
Gain on securities - net | 101,907 | 909,967 | -88.80% |
Share of (loss)/profit from joint venture | (16,015) | 43,296 | |
Share of(loss)/profit from associates | 25,423 | 53,075 | -52.10% |
Other income | 1,282,017 | 448,642 | 185.76% |
Total non-mark-up/interest income | 8,709,622 | 6,468,440 | 34.65% |
Total Income | 24,324,259 | 20,657,742 | 17.75% |
NON MARK-UP/INTEREST EXPENSES | |||
Operating expenses | 13,244,195 | 12,822,536 | 3.29% |
Workers welfare fund | - | - | |
Other charges | 8,598 | 2,244 | 283.16% |
Total non-mark-up/interest expenses | 13,252,793 | 12,824,780 | 3.34% |
Profit before provisions | 11,071,466 | 7,832,962 | 41.34% |
Provisions and write offs - net | 2,213,244 | (2,552) | |
Profit before taxation | 8,858,222 | 7,835,514 | 13.05% |
Taxation | 4,580,576 | 2,727,397 | 67.95% |
Profit after taxation | 4,277,646 | 5,108,117 | -16.26% |
Basic and diluted earnings per share | 2.00 | 2.38 | -15.97% |
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