Tag: Pakistan Ambassador

December 03, 2020 (MLN): Pakistani rupee (PKR) appreciated by 30 paisa against US Dollar (USD) in today's interbank session as the currency closed the day's trade at PKR 160.17 per USD, against yesterday's closing of PKR 160.46 per USD.

The rupee saw a volatility free session as very little movement was recorded trading in a range of 59 paisa per USD showing an intraday high bid of 160.65 and an intraday Low offer of 160.15.

Within the Open Market, PKR was traded at 160.4/161.5 per USD.

Alternatively, the currency lost 5 paisa to the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 214.59 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 214.54 per GBP.

Similarly, PKR's value weakened by 80 paisa against EUR which closed at PKR 194.2 at the interbank today.

On another note, within the money market, the overnight repo rate towards close of the session was 6.75/7.00 percent, whereas the 1 week rate was 6.95/7.00 percent.

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December 03, 2020 (MLN): Foreign Investors during the week ended November 27, 2020, took out net amount of Rs. 1.57 billion by selling of local securities, whereas last week, the accounts observed a net purchase of Rs.45.12 million

According to a weekly report on Specially Convertible Rupee Accounts (SCRA) released by the State Bank of Pakistan, the gross sale of securities during the week was recorded at Rs.6.6 billion, which is around 8.5 percent lower than the figures recorded last week. Similarly, the total purchase of securities stood at Rs.5 billion, which is 30.7 percent lower than the prior week.

Over the week, the overall purchase of securities declined by Rs.2.22 billion while the net sale of securities tumbled by Rs.611.64 million.

Apart from this, the inflow of remittance into these accounts stood at Rs.1.32 billion, while its outflow has been reported at Rs.2.8 billion.

The closing balance of SCRA was recorded at Rs.28.97 billion, which marks a rise of Rs.341.62 million over the week.

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December 3, 2020: World food prices rose for a sixth month running in November, hitting almost a six year high with the index posting its biggest monthly increase since July 2012, the United Nations food agency said on Thursday.

The Food and Agriculture Organization's food price index, which measures monthly changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy products, meat and sugar, averaged 105.0 points last month, versus a slightly revised 101.0 in October.

The October figure was previously given as 100.9.

The Rome-based FAO also said in a statement that worldwide cereal harvests remained on course to hit an annual record in 2020, even though it trimmed its forecast for a third month running.

Vegetable oil prices led the upward charge in the overall index, surging 14.5% month-on-month, thanks largely to a rally in palm oil prices tied to a sharp fall in global inventories. [POI/]

The cereal price index posted a more modest 2.5% rise in November from the month before, some 19.9% above its value a year earlier. Wheat export prices were pushed higher as a result of "reduced harvest prospects" in Argentina, while maize prices were lifted partly by lower crop forecasts in the United States and Ukraine. Rice prices held steady.

Average sugar prices increased 3.3% from October amid fears of a future shortfall in global production as poor weather hit crop prospects in the European Union, Russian and Thailand. [SOF/L]

The dairy index climbed 0.9% on the month to a near 18-month high, driven in part by firmer butter and cheese prices.

The meat index also pushed up 0.9%, ending a run of nine consecutive monthly declines, but is down 13.7% on the year.

FAO revised down its forecast for the 2020 cereal season for a third month running, cutting it to 2.742 billion tonnes from a previous 2.75 billion tonnes. However, this still represents a record high and is 1.3% above last year's level.

"Looking further ahead, planting of the 2021 winter wheat crop in the northern hemisphere is underway, and sowings in several major producing countries are foreseen to increase driven by remunerative prices, although recent dry weather could curb planting expansions and hinder yields," FAO said.

The forecast for world cereal utilisation in 2020/21 was put at 2.744 billion tonnes, little changed from the previous estimate and up 1.9% from the 2019/20 level.

The forecast for world cereal stocks by the close of seasons in 2021 was 866.4 million tonnes, down 9.6 million tonnes from the previous estimate posted last month.

"At this level, the global cereal stock-to-use ratio would decline from 31.8 percent in 2019/20 to 30.7 percent in 2020/21, a five-year low but still a relatively comfortable level," FAO said.

Reuters

Dec 03, 2020: European stocks steadied at the open Thursday, as traders weighed Covid vaccine hopes against rising infections and uncertainty surrounding a post-Brexit trade deal, OPEC oil output and US stimulus package.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 index edged up 0.1 percent to 6,468.54 points.

In the eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX 30 index dipped 0.1 percent to 13,298.34 points and the Paris CAC 40 eased 0.1 percent to 5,580.26.

AFP/APP

December 3, 2020 (MLN): The overall sales of Oil and Marketing Companies (OMCs) for the month of November 2020 witnessed a growth of 21%YoY to 1.72 MTs as compared to 1.42 MTs in the same month of last year, bringing industry volumes for 5MFY21 to 8.16 MTs, up by 11% YoY.

 To note, the November’s sales figures are the highest ever monthly sales of pertoleum products since September 2018.

On a sequential basis, OMCs’ volumetric sales remained relatively flat, posting a meek rise of 1% MoM from 1.69 MTs.

The YoY growth in sales of OMCs is driven by High Speed Diesel (HSD) demand which improved by 29% YoY to 802 MTs. According to Topline Securities, the pickup in HSD volume is largely attributable to continued restrictions on the border due to COVID-19 which is restricting inflow of smuggled product and overall pick-up in economic activity following improvements in COVID-19 situation.

In addition to this, the sales of Motor Spirit (MS) and Furnace Oil (FO) also posted notable growth of 20% YoY and 18% YoY to 693 MTs and 170 MTs, respectively.

According to Fortune Research, MS continued to post impressive sales numbers for the 4^th consecutive month and its current monthly sale is even higher than 5-year average MS monthly sales of 0.62 MTs. The growth was largely supported by impressive car and motorcycles sales during growth FY21TD, lower retail prices by approx. 12% against same period last year and lifting-off of lockdown restrictions resulting in resumption of inter-city travelling.

On monthly basis, growth in sales volume is linked to 20% MoM incline in HSD and 1% MoM jump in MS. On the other hand, FO volumes declined 41% MoM.

Cumulatively, during 5MFY21, industry volumes surged 11% YoY, accredited to surge in FO, HSD and MS sales which jumped by 31%, 13% and 8% YoY respectively.

Company- wise, BYCO posted the largest volumetric growth of 97% YoY in sales of petroleum products, driven by 7.3x YoY increase in FO sales. This was followed by 33% YoY rise in Shell’s volume and 15% YoY increase in PSO volumes. The strong consumption of HSD was the major contributor in increasing Shell’s and PSO’s sales volume.

With regards to market share, PSO grasped the biggest market share of 44%, down by 1ppts MoM, while BYCO’s market share improved by 2ppts MoM to 7%.

On the other hand, APL’s share dropped to 8% from 10% in the previous month. while SHEL and HASCOL maintained its market share at 8% and 5% in Nov’20 respectively.

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