Karachi—The much talked about deal for acquiring Pakistan assets of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) finalized as MCB Bank succeeded to enter into sales agreement subject to approval of State Bank of Pakistan which is a formality. As a result of this transaction the total number of branches of combined MCB and acquired bank (RBS Pakistan) will increase to 1,139, the total consolidated deposits will increase to Rs413 billion and consolidated gross advances to Rs 324 billion. Read the rest of this entry »
Archive for Business
Oil prices hit by doubts on economic rebound
NEW YORK: Oil prices skidded Tuesday amid new data highlighting soft energy demand and on fresh doubts on the sustainability of a global economic recovery. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for September, tumbled 1.15 dollars to end at 69.45 dollars. It fell as low as 68.71 dollars in early trading. Read the rest of this entry »
KSE-100 Index inches further up by 14 points
KARACHI: The benchmark KSE-100 Index of Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) Wednesday gained 14 points to close at 8,058. The Index began continued its journey towards upward direction today and at one point seen at a level of 8,135 points. But later selling in cement and energy stocks sucked earlier gains, leaving the Index slightly above break-even point. The trade volume improved to 210 million shares. TRG stood out as today’s volume leader which gained paisas 35 to close at Rs2.05. KSE-30 Index closed 7 points up to 8,587.
Oil prices drop as dollar rise nips rally
NEW YORK: Oil prices declined Friday as a stronger dollar muted the impact of better-than-expected jobs data in the United States, the world’s biggest energy-consuming nation. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for September, shed 1.01 dollars to 70.93 dollars a barrel, after hitting a five-week high of 72.42 dollars on Thursday. London’s Brent North Sea crude for delivery in September slipped 1.24 dollars to 73.59 dollars a barrel, after touching 76.00 dollars on Thursday, its highest level for 10 months.
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Gold price hits new peak of Rs25,114 per 10 grams
KARACHI: Gold price hit a new peak of Rs25,114 per 10 grams on Monday as compared to Rs25,028 on Saturday, while per tola gold rate was recorded at Rs29,300 as compared to Rs29,200. Rising world gold prices, coupled with the devaluation of rupee against the dollar, were the main reasons of the price-hike attributed by gold traders. One US dollar is now equal to Rs83.40 as compared to Rs82 a month back, making imports costlier. Read the rest of this entry »
Data indicate British manufacturing grew in July
Figures showing the first uptick in Britain’s manufacturing sector in over a year sent the pound surging to a near ten-month high against the dollar Monday. The closely-watched purchasing managers’ index from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply jumped to 50.8 in July from 47.4 in June, largely as a result of a sharp pick-up in new orders. That was the highest reading since March 2008 and indicates that the sector, which accounts for around 15 percent of the British economy, is growing again. Any reading above 50 points to an expansion in activity. As recently as November, the index had fallen to a record low of 34.9. Read the rest of this entry »
Remittances likely to decline by 7-10% in 2009
NEW YORK: Things that grew rapidly in 2008 included home foreclosures, government deficits and the ranks of the jobless. More encouragingly, remittances to developing countries also expanded. The World Bank reckons that migrant workers sent $328 billion home to their families last year, 15% more than in 2007. Read the rest of this entry »
KSE-100 Index plunges to 7500 level
KARACHI: The benchmark KSE-100 Index of Karachi Stock Exchange lost 138 points to close at 7,536 on Wednesday.
The market opened in the positive zone but the trend turned into negative as investors opted to off-load their holdings on expectation of lower cut off yield on Treasury Bills’ auction. The trade volume stood at 110 million shares today.
Fauji Cement emerged as today’s volume leader which shed paisas 32 to close at Rs7.79.
KSE-30 Index witnessed a slide of 210 points to peg at 7,994.
Oil prices gain on economic optimism
NEW YORK: Oil prices extended their rally Monday amid a brighter mood on the economic outlook that sparked hopes for revival of energy demand. New York’s main futures contract, light sweet crude for September, gained 33 cents to close at 68.38 per barrel.
Brent North Sea crude for September delivery settled up 49 cents at 70.81 dollars per barrel after earlier touching 71.28 dollars — a level last seen on July 1. Read the rest of this entry »
Seven more banks shut in U.S.
NEW YORK: U.S. regulators closed seven small banks on Friday, a pace matching a one-day total seen earlier in July and bringing the number of failures so far this year to 64.
Six of the banks were in Georgia and were subsidiaries of Security Bank Corp, having a total of 20 branches, $2.8 billion in assets and about $2.4 billion in deposits, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said.
State Bank and Trust Co of Pinehurst, Georgia, agreed to assume all of the deposits at the six banks, whose branches will reopen under State Bank’s name. State Bank will also purchase $2.4 billion of the assets.
The failure of the six institutions will cost the FDIC deposit insurance fund an estimated $807 million.
The FDIC said State Bank and Trust Co received a $300 million capital infusion from a group of 26 investors to help finance the deposit assumption and purchase the assets.
The FDIC said Waterford Village Bank of Clarence, New York, had been closed, with assets of $61.4 million and deposits of about $58 million.
Evans Bank NA of Angola, New York, will assume all of Waterford’s deposits and the failure is expected to cost the FDIC’s insurance fund $5.6 million.
The number of bank failures has increased dramatically this year as the struggling economy and loan delinquencies have taken a severe toll on financial institutions.
In contrast to the 64 failures so far this year, there were just 25 banks seized in all of 2008, and only three in 2007.
In July alone, there have been 19 bank failures.
The failures have been draining the FDIC’s deposit insurance fund, and the agency has taken steps — including an emergency assessment on banks — to replenish the fund.
The agency keeps a running tally of problem banks that its examiners closely monitor. At the end of the first quarter, 305 undisclosed institutions were on that list. An update on the second quarter is likely next month.
Guaranty Financial Group Inc, the second-largest publicly traded bank in Texas, has said it will probably fail after loan losses and writedowns left it “critically” short of capital.
The Austin-based lender has about $16 billion of assets and more than 150 branches in Texas and California, according to its website.
If it were to fail, it would be the largest U.S. bank to collapse in 2009.
During the current financial crisis, Seattle-based lender Washington Mutual became the biggest bank to fail in U.S. history with $307 billion in assets. It was closed in September last year while suffering from losses from soured mortgages and liquidity problems.
