Hong Kong stocks fell on Friday as investors digested a thick pile of blue chip earnings reports and sought safe utility stocks ahead of politically charged elections in Taiwan over the weekend.
US blue chip stocks ended a choppy session near the unchanged mark on Thursday as reports that Pakistani forces were closing in on a key al Qaeda figure tempered security fears. Technology stocks ended lower.
Thailand stocks fell on Friday as investors opted to cash out ahead of the weekend after arsonists torched rural health clinics and police booths in the largely Muslim south, analysts said.
South Korean shares closed more than one percent higher on Friday, as foreign investors bought on optimism of solid corporate earnings results, targeting Samsung Electronics Co and other tech stocks.
Philippines stocks ended higher on Friday for a third day running as players pounced on blue chips such as power distributor Meralco and conglomerate Benpres after the market's recent decline.
Taiwan stocks closed higher on Friday as investors bought into tech firms like Nanya Tech that have better earnings prospects, while falling turnover showed caution before on Saturday's presidential election.
Singapore shares ended higher on Friday, lifted by DBS and Neptune Orient Lines, but secondary stocks attracted most of the volume in cautious trade ahead of weekend polls in Taiwan and Malaysia.
Japanese stocks ended down on Friday with investors taking a breather from recent rallies and locking in profits on retailers' shares such as Ito-Yokado Co and other high-flyers ahead of the weekend.
Sri Lankan stocks rose on Friday as buying in select counters helped snap six days of losses, but most blue chips continued to fall ahead of April 2 general elections.
US stocks were near unchanged on Friday as investors weighed security concerns, including a battle between Pakistani troops and rebels that might lead to the capture of a top al Qaeda figure.
New and forthcoming issuance stole the show in Europe on Friday as Network Rail continued its funding spree with two large euro deals and France's Pinault Printemps Redoute drew demand for a seven-year euro bond.
New and forthcoming issuance stole the show in Europe on Friday as Network Rail continued its funding spree with two large euro deals and France's Pinault Printemps Redoute drew demand for a seven-year euro bond.
The Swiss franc held firmer levels against the dollar and euro on Friday, lifted by security fears which knocked the greenback in the previous session and shrugging off the Swiss National Bank's unchanged rate decision.
The yen eased off its bullish run against major rivals on Friday, but the market expected further gains as speculation mounted that the Japanese authorities may be stepping back from aggressive intervention.
The dollar retreated on Thursday, undermined by the yen's broad rally amid a surge in Japanese equity inflows and the Bank of Japan's seeming absence from the marketplace, analyst said.
Asian currencies retreated from highs on Friday, following the yen's moves as markets reassessed speculation that Japan would moderate its currency intervention.
The Indian rupee rose to a 43-1/2 month closing high on Friday, as the central bank refrained from the heavy dollar purchases it had made in recent months to mop up robust foreign investment and trade inflows, dealers said.
Sterling rose a third of a percent against the euro and held steady against the broadly stronger dollar on Friday, helped by hawkish comments from Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member Paul Tucker.
The yen hovered below this week's one-month high on the dollar on Friday, with traders unwilling to test Japan's tolerance of a higher yen any further, while the greenback clawed back ground on the euro.
The Indian cricketers, who have been surrounded by a tight security ring during their tour of Pakistan, ventured out of their hotel rooms in Peshawar on Thursday night to do some shopping for the first time since crossing the border.
The Delhi High Court on Friday vacated the interim injunction against the Ten Sports for the supply of feed channel to Hathway Cable and Datacom Pvt Ltd after the Multi System Operator (MSO) said it was not pressing it since the Indo-Pakistan cricket seri
Pakistan coach Javed Miandad on Friday urged the bowlers to keep line and length to get more wickets rather than to be punished from the Indian run-making machine.
The pitch at Arbab Niaz Stadium during the third one-dayer between Pakistan and India on Friday favoured seam bowlers, contrary to pre-match predictions of proving a batsman's paradise.
Even though the Peshawar match was not a high-scoring one the sheer drama and romance of the fare and the portrayal of vivacious cricket enthralled all those who witnessed this battle royal, particularly the spectators who had filled like sardines the env
Twenty-four people, most of them teenagers, died on Friday when a heavily-laden truck skidded on dark icy roads in central Finland and smashed into their bus in the country's worst ever traffic accident, officials said.
Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi could be released in April, most likely after Myanmar's New Year water festival, a source close to the reconciliation process said Friday.
Security for Sri Lanka's president and prime minister has been stepped up by 50 percent ahead of next month's snap parliamentary elections, the island's police chief said Friday.
The conflict in Sudan's western Darfur region "is now the world's greatest humanitarian and human rights catastrophe", a top UN official said in Nairobi on Friday.
The United States and Europe, their relationship in crisis over the Iraq war and the war on terrorism, must take concrete steps to ensure the split does not permanently damage the trans-Atlantic alliance, American and European experts warned on Friday.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon held an unannounced meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah II at his ranch in southern Israel, Israeli public radio said Friday.
The Roman Catholic Church, tightly centralised under Pope John Paul, should open up to share power more among its bishops, priests and people, Britain's top cardinal writes in a new book.
Former chief US weapons hunter David Kay said in an interview on Friday that the intelligence services' reliance on information from Iraqi defectors had led the West to misjudge Saddam Hussein.
United Nations agencies warned Asian countries on Friday to be cautious about declaring victory over the deadly outbreak of avian flu across the continent, saying it was still not under control.
Nato troops raided apartment blocks in a flash-point Kosovo town on Friday after two days of serious violence the alliance has blamed mainly on Albanian hard-liners bent on driving out Serbs.
European Union ministers agreed on Friday to appoint an anti-terrorism co-ordinator and boost intelligence-sharing as Europe faced up to the fact it has become a target for militants after the Madrid bombings.
A Moscow court on Friday ordered the former chief executive of oil major YUKOS, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, to remain in jail pending trial until May 25, Khodorkovsky's lawyer said.
Thousands of Iraqi Sunni and Shia Muslims put aside sectarian differences on Friday to demonstrate against the US-led occupation of Iraq a year after the war began which toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.
Iraqi journalists gave US Secretary of State Colin Powell a hostile reception in Baghdad on Friday, walking out of his news conference in protest at the killing of two of their colleagues by US troops.
The invasion of Iraq has polarised the Middle East and may have worsened the threat of terrorism, former United Nations weapons inspector Hans Blix charged on Thursday.
The US House of Representatives on Thursday voted unanimously to double a reward - to 50 million dollars - for the capture of terrorist Osama bin Laden.
Even if the number two al Qaeda leader were captured in an offensive by Pakistani forces it would not end the threat from Osama bin Laden's world-wide organisation, senior US officials said on Friday.
US President George W. Bush on Friday used the first anniversary of the invasion of Iraq to urge allies to bury differences over the war and unite in the fight against terrorism.
Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) will launch special courses for tourist guides, said Managing Director PTDC, Malik Mohammad Habib Khan here on Friday.
Corps Commander Lieutenant General Ahsan Saleem Hyat was given a briefing on the newly inducted state of the art Al-Khalid Tank at Malir Garrison here on Friday morning.
Defence Minister Rao Sikandar Iqbal on Friday said that the government is fully alive to its obligations to country's defence and security of nuclear programme.
Justice Gulzar Ahmed of High Court of Sindh (SHC) has stayed further booking of marriage functions in Club Lawns 1 and 2, on Kashmir Road, Karachi while passing an interim orders on Friday in a suit filed by residents of Block 3, PECHS, Karachi.
The seventh convocation of Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology (SSUET) will be held on April 7. The Sindh governor, Dr Ishrat-ul-Ibad Khan, would be the chief guest on the occasion.
WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region Dr Hussain A Gezairy will be on a three-day visit to Pakistan from March 23 - during which he will also receive "Hilal-e-Quaid-i-Azam" from President General Pervez Musharraf.
Russia is likely to become a major destination of Pakistan's mandarin kinnos within one year, said Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Board (PHDEB), Shamoon Sadiq in an interview with APP.
The NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani has said that we would not go against our claim for people-oriented planning and welfare activities that is against what the previous rulers planned in the province.
International Commission on the Globalisation of Economy and Social Dimension has urged the developed countries to transfer the real resources to the developing countries by waiving off the high debt liabilities of the third world countries.
The Oxford University Press (OUP) is conducting workshops on pre-school training for teachers of The Educators School as part of its ongoing teacher training programme.
The convener of the Organising Committee of the Pakistan Muslim League Sindh, Senator Nisar Ahmed Memon, has called upon the party workers to forge unity in their ranks and counter the misinformation being created by the opposition against the present gov
This refers to the editorial, titled "The rapidly rising steel prices", of the daily 'Business Recorder', Karachi of 09.03.2004. Pakistan Steel is appreciative of the concern shown by the daily on such an important issue.
It is good to talk of democracy and have a true one around. But what is in the first place the very aim, the objective and the purpose of democracy in a country? That, people could govern themselves the way they will. In other words to ensure good governa
Keen to boost its military capabilities and global security profile, Japan is undertaking the most drastic review of its forces in five decades - a move analysts say will involve both pain and gain for domestic firms.
Now is the time for our banking industry to move about "paradigm shift" due to the emerging need of quality management system implementation in this sector.
Speaking at the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday, Saudi Ambassador Ali Awadh Asseri made the unpleasant but unsurprising observation that some Pakistani exporters are distorting the country's image in Saudi Arabia by sending substan
US Secretary of State Colin Powell's announcement at a news conference in Islamabad on Thursday that "we will also make a notification to our Congress that will designate Pakistan as a major non-NATO ally for purposes of military-to-military relations" wi
Since shifting of air operations at new terminal complex of Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore, the income of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has visibly improved.
A meeting of the representatives of different bar associations of lawyers will be held under the auspices of Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) here on Saturday, March 20, in Karachi Hall of the Lahore High Court Bar Association.
Punjab Irrigation and Drainage Authority (PIDA) will organise a training programme for growers in a bid to update their knowledge about water management, agriculture extension and fertility of the agriculture land.
With a view to check public complaints and closely monitor the working of officials of Motor Branch, close circuit camera has been installed in the office of Motor Registering Authority (MRA) Lahore.
Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has launched pre-paid billing card system to facilitate its consumers, said Mashkoor Hussain, Senior Executive Vice President (Business Development and Marketing) PTCL.
The Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) has expressed its deep sorrow over the demise of renowned jurist Riaz Hussain Batalvi and former Judge of Supreme Court of Pakistan Aslam Riaz Hussain.
Paragon International (Pvt) Limited, a well known advertising agency of Pakistan, has signed an agreement with Interads Group, one of the largest advertising agencies and event management company of India for advertising, exhibitions, co-productions, show
The Capital Development Authority (CDA) board has approved a plan to rehabilitate around 189 victims of Bheka Saidan under which they would be allotted plots in two different sectors of Islamabad, Business Recorder reliably learnt here on Friday.
The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has approved Rs 30 million scheme for construction of Academic Block-II at Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU), Rawalpindi.
All Parties Hurriyat Conference (Ansari faction) is to meet on Saturday to discuss New Delhi's invitation for a second round of high-level peace talks on March 27, its leader, Maulana Abbas Ansari, told AFP.
The method of simple finessing position is as old as the game of bridge itself in the early twentieth century. But the ruffing finesse is one of the improved techniques developed over the years. And it has been applied eversince extensively by good bridge
The Governing Board of Directors of the Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) in its meeting held on Friday decided to call an Extra-ordinary General Meeting (EOGM) of the exchange within 21 days, to discuss the issue of new membership.
The cultural heritage of Pakistan - its monuments, historical buildings, centuries old structures arid military fortresses - has never received so much attention as it is doing nowadays. It is as if the nation has suddenly noticed them and realised the va
Punjab government is working on a plan to exploit the growing 'One Dollar' consumer market in US and other countries so as to give boost to country's exports.
There was little doubt about Pakistan qualifying for the hockey contest in this year's Athens' Olympiad from among the 12 competitors at Madrid. The speculators, the jeremiahs excluded, had also tipped the national formation to get a ticket for Greece via
An accountability court on Friday extended the physical remand of the director of a forex company Messrs Rauf International for a fortnight, as the national accountability bureau (NAB) officials want further interrogation.
Where politics failed cricket has won. An unprecedented reception, accorded by Karachiites to the Indian cricket squad, has silenced those, especially the international media, that Karachi is not safe for any sporting event, including cricket, which attra
The Japan Foundation in collaboration with Alhamra Arts Council organised 'Japan Kokeshi Dolls Exhibition' in connection with Pak-Japan Friendship Festival 2004 here at Alhamra Arts Gallery.
Celebrated film, TV actress and director Samina Peerzada is a spirited of co-productions with the Indian film industry. In her own film Inteha, she specially invited Indian choreographer, Ahmed Khan for dance sequences. Samina is also pursuing the idea of
Sindh Abadgar Board President Abdul Majeed Nizamani has criticised the statement of Rahim Janoo that Pakistan is planning to buy 0.5 million tonnes of rice from India to meet its export commitments in June when the domestic stock would be low.
The exuberance of mega 15-day spring festival in Lahore was followed by cricket frenzy. Other major events in the city in the past week included the Saarc Writers Conference, a couple of exhibitions of paintings of Pakistani artists and an exhibition of R
The Union of Small & Medium Enterprises (Unisame) has drawn the attention of the Government of Pakistan to the non-availability of statistics on various crops.
