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As oil rises due to concerns about the Strait of Hormuz closing, gold falls more than 1%.

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– Gold prices slid ‌more than 1% on Monday as fears of a closure of the Strait of Hormuz drove oil prices sharply higher, reviving expectations of elevated interest rates to combat inflationary pressures from escalating hostilities in the Middle ​East.

Spot gold dropped 1.5% to $4,060.36 per ounce by 0541 GMT. U.S. gold futures for August ​delivery were down 1.1% at $4,068.30.

U.S. and Iranian forces have exchanged heavy missile ⁠and drone assaults, with Tehran targeting U.S. facilities in states across the Gulf on Sunday and saying ​it had again closed the vital Strait of Hormuz.

Oil prices jumped about 4%, the dollar and ​U.S. Treasury yields climbed, and share markets slipped in Asia.

“Any breakout of violence in the Gulf is accompanied by pressure on gold,” said Nicholas Frappell, global head of institutional markets at ABC Refinery.

“The question is, if the ​Strait of Hormuz remains effectively or partially closed, does that lead to a deflationary effect, ​further down the road, that might actually be supportive for gold if you have demand destruction leading to lower ‌economic ⁠activity,” Frappell added.

Kevin Warsh’s first semiannual testimony before Congress as Federal Reserve chair, along with a slate of key U.S. economic data, including June CPI, PPI and retail sales, will be closely watched this week for fresh clues on the economy, inflation and the monetary policy outlook.

Remarks from Fed ​policymakers, including Vice Chair ​Michelle Bowman and Governor ⁠Christopher Waller, later in the day are also in focus as they could provide insights on how inflationary pressures are affecting the central bank’s ​stance on interest rate hikes.

Traders are currently pricing in a 72% chance ​of a ⁠U.S. Fed interest rate hike in September, up from about 63% last week, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. FEDWATCH/ COMEX gold speculators trimmed their net long positions by 1,964 contracts to 114,854 in the ⁠week to ​July 7, data released on Friday showed, following three ​consecutive weeks of increases.

Elsewhere, spot silver declined 2.6% to $58.29 per ounce, platinum shed 1.6% to $1,601.92, and palladium fell 2% to $1,251.42

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Through HRMIS, the federal government digitizes 75% of civil servants’ service records.

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– The federal government has digitized around 75 percent of service records of federal civil servants belonging to four occupational groups as part of a broader reform aimed at modernizing human resource management and reducing reliance on paper-based records.

Official documents presented to the Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat, and available with Wealth Pakistan, show that the Establishment Division has made significant progress through the implementation of the Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS) – a centralised digital platform for managing service records of officers belonging to the Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS), Police Service of Pakistan (PSP), Office Management Group (OMG), and Secretariat Group (SG).

According to the briefing, approximately 75 percent of service record data has already been entered into HRMIS, while the remaining records are being prioritized for digitization.

The Establishment Division is also carrying out a comprehensive verification and correction exercise to ensure the authenticity, completeness and accuracy of the data.

The digital platform contains officers’ personal profiles, postings, promotions, seniority, qualifications, training history, leave records, Performance Evaluation Reports (PERs) and other service-related information.

Officers have been provided access to review their records and submit correction requests, which are verified before system incorporation.

The Establishment Division informed the committee that there are no delays in the digitisation process due to manual record handling and that the current focus is on completing the remaining data entry and validation before the system becomes the government’s authoritative source for personnel management.

Once fully operational, HRMIS will serve as the single digital repository for service records, supporting promotions, transfers, training and other human resource functions.

The initiative is expected to improve efficiency, transparency, data integrity and evidence-based decision-making across the federal government.

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Pakistani, Bangladeshi firms sign vehicle export contract to increase bilateral trade

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Pakistani car maker MG JW Automobile inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bangladeshi conglomerate RANCON Group this week to export Pakistani cars to Bangladesh as both nations look to boost business-to-business (B2B) connections.

RANCON is a large corporate organization in Bangladesh and they are working in several sectors like vehicles, real estate and electronics. Under the deal, MG JW Automobile will sell 100 vehicles to Bangladesh during the current year while total shipments are expected to exceed 5,800 vehicles during the next four years, the Pakistan High Commission in Bangladesh announced on Friday.

“The deal is expected to benefit Bangladesh by increasing the availability of vehicles in the Bangladesh market, healthy competition and the consumers will get more choices at competitive prices,” the High Commission stated.

“The agreement will also lead to closer economic cooperation between Pakistan and Bangladesh and promote more business-to-business cooperation,” said the high commission.

Haroon Akhtar Khan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Industries and Production, praised the deal. He said he was confident such collaborations will improve trade and economic relations between the two countries and provide avenues for cooperation between the corporate sectors of the two countries.

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PSX makes huge gains to start the week on a positive note.

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Pakistan’s stock market started the new trading week on a positive note as the benchmark KSE-100 Index jumped over 2,700 points in early trade on Monday after US President Donald Trump announced that he had begun talks with Iran.

The bull run took the KSE-100 Index to 178,985 points, signifying restored investor confidence and broad-based buying in the market.

The rally came after the index finished at 176,094 points at the end of the previous trading session.

Market watchers said the high gains were fueled by a better mood among global investors after the announcement of US-Iran talks helped to quell fears over regional tensions and increase optimism in financial markets.

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