Business
Oil prices rise for second session on continued Middle East supply concern
Oil prices increased for a second straight session on Tuesday as ongoing fears of Middle East supply disruption due to US-Iran tensions overshadowed signals of recovering crude supplies from the region.
Brent crude futures were up $1.49, or 1.4%, at $106.77 a barrel by 0326 GMT while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $93.94, up $1.34, or 1.5%. Both benchmarks finished the last session with gains of around $1 a barrel.Higher volumes of oil exports are increasingly visible exiting the Gulf, but much of the growth still depends on workarounds such as ship-to-ship transfers. “The methods are less efficient, more costly than normal operations, which is why crude prices remain elevated,” KCM Trade chief analyst Tim Waterer said.
Crude exports from major Middle Eastern producers jumped to 12.8 million barrels a day in September, the highest since February, aided by higher shipments from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, preliminary statistics from data source Kpler showed on Monday.
U.S. and Iranian officials separately spoke to mediators in a renewed effort to end seven months of hostilities, officials from both nations said. Further talks are widely expected to focus on a revised version of a seven-day proposal Iran submitted last week on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly.“The dominant risk remains the US-Iran standoff and its implications for energy prices and inflation expectations,” UOB analysts said in a client note.Iranian officials have allegedly been pessimistic about striking a compromise before the Strait of Hormuz crisis worsens further, keeping oil supply uncertainties elevated.”
The conflict that started in late February with US and Israeli strikes on Iran has turned the spotlight onto the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping path for oil and gas supplies that has been thrown into chaos and shaken up energy markets.
Meanwhile, the US is weighing regulatory relief to enable wider sales of red-dyed diesel to help decrease prices, a move that might allow some consumers to escape federal fuel tax, people familiar with discussions told Reuters. The proposal came after days of negotiations as a key alternative to a ban on fuel exports.
Business
PSX gains over 400 points at opening
— The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) kicked off on a bullish note on Tuesday with the benchmark KSE-100 Index rising more than 400 points in early trade.
The index rose to 166,425 points at the start of the second trading session of the business week, indicating better market performance.
The KSE-100 Index closed down 453 points at 165,966 points in the last trading session.
The benchmark index turned positive during early trading after falling in the previous session. The latest gains were made as the benchmark index went into positive territory during early trading.
Business
Dollar firmer, euro weakens as French protests turn violent
The dollar rose from near its lowest levels of the month at the start of trading in Asia on Monday, as violent protests in France put pressure on the euro.
The euro was 0.1% down at $1.1225 at the start of Asian trading. The dollar index was most heavily weighted toward the common currency and its decline helped calm the greenback, which was trading flat at 101.83.
French President Emmanuel Macron criticised “shocking” displays of violence on the fringes of protests over the cost of living in a televised speech to the country on Sunday, a day after France had one of its worst days of unrest in years.‘The weekend disturbance does matter for the euro mostly through French bonds rather than directly,’ Kieran Williams, head of Asia FX at InTouch Capital Markets in London, said.
Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said on Monday underlying inflation is “quite close” to the central bank’s 2% objective, with the US dollar unchanged at 158.00 yen on the yen.
The U.S. dollar was unchanged at 6.6842 yuan in offshore trade ahead of the announcement of Chinese third-quarter GDP statistics. China’s economy likely improved marginally in the time from a more-than three-year low.
A lot of attention in emerging market Asia will be on the Indonesian rupiah, after a threat from MSCI to downgrade the nation’s stock market to “standalone” status last week sent shares into an 11.6% plunge. The rupiah closed at 18,000 versus the dollar on Friday, its lowest in nearly three months.
The Australian dollar was 0.3% higher at $0.6965 and the kiwi was steady at $0.5656. The British pound stayed steady at $1.3329.
Oil prices fell when Asian trade began on Monday, with Brent oil futures down 1.7% at $108.02, after US President Donald Trump waived sanctions and tariffs on Russia that may lead to additional Russian fuel shipments.
Business
Pakistan freelancers earn record $197 million in September 2026
Pakistani freelancers created a new record in the country’s digital economy by earning the most amount of foreign currencies in September 2026.
Figures indicate exports by freelancers hit a record $197 million last month, up 49 percent year-on-year and 11 percent month-on-month in September 2026.
Pakistani freelancers have exported services worth $550 million from July to September 2026, representing a substantial 46% growth in export profits in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.
Note that before, Pakistani freelancers earned foreign currencies of $1.76 billion in the fiscal year 2025-26.
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