The Federal Reserve delivered another steep interest rate increase on Wednesday, as expected, with its move to cool red-hot inflation taking on more weight amid the political maelstrom ahead of key US midterm elections. With high inflation squeezing American families of all political stripes, President Joe Biden faces a battle to avoid losing control of both chambers of Congress. The Fed’s a
The downward trend in Pakistan merchandise export proceeds continued for the second consecutive month, raising fears about the closure of industrial units across the country, suggested provisional data of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics released on Wednesday. The country’s exports shrank 3.77 per cent in October to $2.37 billion from $2.64bn in the corresponding month last year. On a month-on
Afghanistan registered a trade surplus of $79 million with Pakistan, one of its largest trading partners, from July 2021 to June 2022, according to the latest report by an official US monitoring agency, known as SIGAR. The report — prepared for the US Congress by the office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) — noted that Afghanistan’s currency, the Afghani,
Oil futures fell early on Thursday as the dollar firmed on the US Federal Reserve’s hawkish stance, but concerns over looming supply risks kept a floor under prices. Brent crude shed 44 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to $95.72 a barrel at 0146 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures retreated 59 cents, or 0.7pc, to $89.41. The benchmarks settled up more than $1 on Wednesday, aided
The July-September quarter brought to the country’s banking industry the highest-ever three-month profits, a review of earnings data of 16 commercial banks showed on Wednesday. According to Shameer Alam Zaidi, analyst at Ismail Iqbal Securities Ltd, bank earnings clocked in at Rs85 billion in July-September, up 26 per cent from a year ago. Major drivers for the record-high earnings were high