Business

Dollar goes down as do yields, yen

Published

2 years ago

Farwa

After last week’s clear-out in the bond market, investors are back to trading near-term rate expectations.

With an eye on Wednesday’s US inflation data, traders in Asia nudged both yields and the dollar a whisker lower on Tuesday.

Two-year and ten-year Treasury yields are back below 5% and 4%, respectively.

News aided stocks, with Alibaba (9988.HK) extending gains on hopes that a $984 million fine for Ant Group signalled the end of a years-long crackdown that has hammered the Chinese tech sector.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s visit to Beijing seemed also to meet low expectations, with few signs that testy relations are getting better but also little suggestion they’re getting worse.

The yen is in the driver’s seat in foreign exchange markets, as investors pull back on high-yielding bets in emerging markets that have been funded by cheaply borrowed yen.

Such trades are placed by selling yen for dollars and then dollars for emerging-market currencies such as the peso or the real, so reversing them requires selling dollars for yen. The yen has risen to the strong side of 141 per dollar for the first time in three weeks.

Elsewhere in Asia the extension of a support package for China’s property sector helped Hong Kong developers. The Hang Seng (.HSI) rose 1.5%.

The events calendar is relatively bare until US CPI data on Wednesday and US earnings later in the week, although final German inflation figures and British jobs data are due later on Tuesday.

Economists expect UK unemployment to hold at 3.8%, which is likely to add upward pressure on wages and interest rates.

That seems to be lending speculative support to the British currency, with sterling longs near their highest in five years and the spot price touching a 15-month top in the Asia session.

Key developments that could influence markets on Tuesday:

British jobs data
Final German CPI

Business

February 7, 2025: The value of the Pakistani Rupee (PKR) in relation to the US dollar is unchanged.

Published

59 minutes ago

Farwa

KARACHI: The open market exchange rate between the US dollar and the Pakistani rupee (PKR) was Rs279.4 on February 07, 2025, with a selling rate of Rs281.1. The interbank exchange rate between the US dollar and the Pakistani rupee is Rs 278.45, according to Interbank.

There was no movement in the US dollar (USD) from the previous closure of Rs278.

Business

The NORINCO Group is invited by CM Sindh to explore opportunities.

Published

1 day ago

Farwa

Chinese companies have been invited by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah to visit Karachi and other regions of Sindh Province in order to observe the quickly growing businesses and investigate prospects in fields like clean energy, infrastructure development, and public transit projects.

Speaking in Beijing to a delegation headed by the chairman of NORINCO International Co., Ltd., he stated that all facilities required would be provided by the governments of Sindh Province and Pakistan.

With assistance from NORINCO International, the Sindh Chief Minister stated that the Provincial Government will firmly urge North Vehicle and BeiBen to think about setting up a Vehicle Assembly Plant in the Dhabeji Special Economic Zone.

Business

A deal with Pakistan to fight financial crimes has been approved by the Saudi cabinet.

Published

1 day ago

Farwa

In order to strengthen collaboration in the fight against money laundering, terrorist financing, and associated crimes, the Saudi Press Agency announced this week that the Saudi cabinet, led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, had approved a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Pakistan’s Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU).

Due to its severe money laundering and terrorism funding issues in recent years, Pakistan was added to the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list in June 2018.

The nation was taken off the gray list in October 2022 after enacting extensive measures to fortify its financial system.

The FMU is Pakistan’s financial intelligence unit, created under the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2010 and tasked with collaborating with foreign partners and evaluating reports of suspicious transactions.

According to the SPA, “the cabinet approved a memorandum of understanding regarding cooperation in exchanging investigations related to money laundering, terrorist financing, and related crimes between the Financial Monitoring Unit in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the General Department of Financial Investigation at the Presidency of State Security in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

The MoU is an indication of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan’s growing strategic partnership. A significant Pakistani diaspora resides in the Kingdom, and numerous Pakistani businesses have established a presence there.

Saudi Arabia has been a key supporter of Pakistan’s economy, bolstering its reserves with substantial deposits in the State Bank of Pakistan and offering deferred oil payment facilities.