News

Earnings of cement firms rise

Lucky Cement Ltd reported on Monday its unconsolidated earnings for July-September amounted to Rs6.9 billion, up 80 per cent year-on-year. However, its consolidated earnings surged 179pc to Rs19.3bn on an annual basis. Arif Habib Ltd said the increase in consolidated income was attributable to higher revenue from cement operations, Lucky Electric Power Company and Lucky Core Industries Ltd.

Oil falls over 3pc as supply concerns ease

Oil slipped more than three per cent on Monday with US crude oil futures falling more than $3 a barrel as fears eased about the Israel’s war on Gaza disrupting supply from the region and as investors grew cautious ahead of this week’s US Federal Reserve meeting. Brent crude futures fell $2.90, or 3.21 per cent, to $87.58 a barrel by 10:32am CDT (1532 GMT), while US West Texas Intermediate crude

SBP maintains key interest rate at 22pc

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) kept the key interest rate unchanged at 22 per cent on Monday, expecting inflation to decline significantly in October because of downward adjustments in fuel prices, easing rates of some major food commodities and a favourable base effect. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the SBP noted that headline inflation rose in September as expected. The SBP in i

FBR unearths Rs716m tax evasion in steel bar clearance

The Directorate General of Intelligence and Investigation of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has unearthed duty and tax evasion of Rs716.27 million in the clearance of steel bars at Hyderabad Collectorate. Karachi’s Customs Intelligence Regional Office has lodged a First Information Report (FIR) against the culprits. The steel, initially cleared at the Hyderabad Collectorate, was later found

Middle East crisis raises geopolitical risks, says World Bank

The latest crisis in the Middle East has raised geopolitical risks for commodity markets, but so far its impact on prices has been small, says a World Bank report released on Monday. It said that previous military conflicts in the region often resulted in higher prices and vitality in commodity markets. According to the ‘Commo­dity Markets Outlook’ report this suggests that an escalation could