Oil prices were up nearly a dollar in Asian trade on Thursday after President Donald Trump announced a blockade on tankers entering and leaving Venezuela and most exports from the country remained on hold. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 98 cents, or 1.7%, at $56.89 per barrel at 0120 GMT, after initially rising more than a dollar. Brent crude rose 92 cents or 1.54% to $60.60 per
The Pakistani rupee strengthened against the US dollar, appreciating 0.06% during the opening minutes of trading in the inter-bank market on Thursday. At 10am, the local currency was hovering at 280.10, a gain of Re0.17 against the greenback. On Wednesday, the local unit closed at 280.27. Globally, the US dollar held gains against its major counterparts on Thursday as markets positioned for
Bilal bin Saqib, the head of Pakistan’s newly established virtual assets regulator, has come under criticism after publicly advising citizens to ‘watch videos’ to buy Bitcoin, even as millions of Pakistanis remain exposed to unregulated peer-to-peer crypto markets. “I am not a financial advisor, but if you still want to buy Bitcoins. There are multiple videos through which 30-40 million people
China’s Shandong Xinxu Group has pitched a multi-billion-euro integrated maritime and industrial project at Port Qasim, one of Pakistan’s key ports, marking one of the largest proposed foreign investments in Pakistan’s maritime sector in recent years. A five-member delegation from China’s Shandong Xinxu Group has met Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs, Muhammad Junaid Chaudhry to discuss a p
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) paused on Tuesday after touching a record high above the 170k barrier a day ago as early optimism vanished because of profit-taking by investors at elevated levels, pushing the benchmark index down by 294 points. Initially, investors cheered a 50-basis-point reduction in the central bank's policy rate, which lifted the index to a new all-time intra-day high of