BR100 Increased By (0.85%)
BR30 Increased By (0.42%)
KSE100 Increased By (0.87%)
KSE30 Increased By (0.83%)
AGHA 6.03 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.17%)
BECO 3.86 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (1.31%)
BML 61.00 Increased By ▲ 4.56 (8.08%)
BOP 28.09 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.04%)
CNERGY 11.74 Decreased By ▼ -0.54 (-4.4%)
CSIL 5.30 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.19%)
FCCL 54.46 Increased By ▲ 0.65 (1.21%)
FFL 13.07 Increased By ▲ 0.27 (2.11%)
FNEL 1.11 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.89%)
KEL 5.63 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.18%)
KOSM 5.34 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.74%)
LOTCHEM 23.83 Increased By ▲ 0.28 (1.19%)
MLCF 92.98 Increased By ▲ 1.02 (1.11%)
NBP 163.20 Increased By ▲ 0.96 (0.59%)
NCPL 48.27 Decreased By ▼ -0.64 (-1.31%)
NPL 49.71 Decreased By ▼ -0.80 (-1.58%)
OGDC 303.63 Increased By ▲ 1.95 (0.65%)
PACE 8.97 Decreased By ▼ -0.16 (-1.75%)
PAEL 31.91 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (0.31%)
PIBTL 12.74 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.31%)
PPL 212.91 Increased By ▲ 0.85 (0.4%)
PRL 84.34 Decreased By ▼ -2.92 (-3.35%)
PTC 44.99 Increased By ▲ 1.03 (2.34%)
SSGC 22.83 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.13%)
TBL 8.88 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.34%)
TELE 6.50 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (0.93%)
TPL 24.26 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (0.71%)
TPLP 11.99 Decreased By ▼ -0.17 (-1.4%)
TREET 23.14 Decreased By ▼ -0.36 (-1.53%)
TRG 51.47 Decreased By ▼ -0.40 (-0.77%)
Archive

World

Monday, March 15, 2021

Nigeria's unemployment rose to 33.3pc in fourth quarter, stats office says
Africa

Nigeria's unemployment rose to 33.3pc in fourth quarter, stats office says

  • The unemployment rate stood at 33.3% in the fourth quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said, up from 27.1% in the second quarter, when the data was last published. Unemployment of 23.1% was first reported for the third quarter of 2018.
  • Access Bank, Nigeria's largest lender, cut staff salaries and sacked contract workers accounting for 75% of its 30,000 workforce to save costs, banking sources told Reuters.
Updated 15 Mar, 2021 09:26pm
Canadian home sales and prices surge, while starts remain elevated
USA

Canadian home sales and prices surge, while starts remain elevated

  • Home resales jumped 6.6% in January from February, and actual sales, not seasonally adjusted, soared 39.2% from a year earlier, CREA said on Monday. The group's Home Price Index was up 17.3% from last February and up 3.3% from January.
  • The two big challenges that continue facing Canadian housing markets are the same ones we've been facing for months - COVID-19 and a lack of supply.
Updated 15 Mar, 2021 09:26pm
Germany's Scholz: Europe's fiscal rules are flexible enough
Europe

Germany's Scholz: Europe's fiscal rules are flexible enough

  • Asked ahead of a virtual meeting of euro zone finance ministers whether he expected a discussion about possible changes to the EU's Stability and Growth Pact, Scholz said member states should be pragmatic and focus on the existing possibilities to suspend the fiscal rules under certain circumstances.
Updated 15 Mar, 2021 09:25pm
Italy prosecutors seize batch of AstraZeneca vaccine after death of man
Europe

Italy prosecutors seize batch of AstraZeneca vaccine after death of man

  • The move represents another blow to the image of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Italy and will further hinder the government's anti-coronavirus inoculation campaign.
  • The Italian government has said there was no evidence of a connection between the deaths and the jabs and has allowed the AstraZeneca vaccine to continue to be administered.
Updated 15 Mar, 2021 09:25pm
IMF research shows top firms becoming more dominant during pandemic
USA

IMF research shows top firms becoming more dominant during pandemic

  • Due to the pandemic, we estimate that this concentration could now increase in advanced economies by at least as much as it did in the 15 years to end of 2015.
  • "Even in those industries that benefited from the crisis, such as the digital sector, dominant players are among the biggest winners."
Updated 15 Mar, 2021 09:24pm
Mexican president seeks inquiry into judge who halted power sector reform
USA

Mexican president seeks inquiry into judge who halted power sector reform

  • The order by Judge Juan Pablo Gomez Fierro argued that the legislation may violate constitutional provisions that ensure the right to free competition, and ordered it suspended for the duration of the trial.
  • There are people, organizations and companies related to the old regime who act based on their well-known economic and political interests, who use corruption and influence peddling as their modus operandi.
Updated 15 Mar, 2021 09:24pm
Bulgaria's jobless rate eases to 6.9pc in February
Europe

Bulgaria's jobless rate eases to 6.9pc in February

  • The jobless rate was 6.2% in February 2020.
  • Government support schemes for employment helped keep dole queues shorter, saving over 400,000 jobs since the start of the pandemic last March, the agency said.
Published 15 Mar, 2021 06:46pm
Biden's secretary of state makes overseas debut with visit to Japan, Korea
USA

Biden's secretary of state makes overseas debut with visit to Japan, Korea

  • The visit, from March 15 to 18, to Tokyo and Seoul is the first overseas trip by top cabinet members of President Joe Biden's administration and follows last week's Quad alliance summit of the leaders of the US, Japan, Australia and India.
  • The Quad summit pledged to work to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific, a major priority for Tokyo, and cooperate on maritime, cyber and economic security in the face of challenges from Beijing.
Published 15 Mar, 2021 06:43pm
Novo Nordisk owner, Danish government in talks about vaccine production
Europe

Novo Nordisk owner, Danish government in talks about vaccine production

  • We can confirm that we have discussions with the government about the possibilities of establishing a vaccine production in Denmark.
  • Business Minister Simon Kollerup confirmed in an email that the government is in talks with the country's life science industry, including the foundation.
Published 15 Mar, 2021 06:39pm
China to strengthen anti-trust regulatory powers
South Asia

China to strengthen anti-trust regulatory powers

  • China will improve the making of laws and regulations over internet platform companies to "fill in the gaps and loopholes in rules" to step up regulatory framework design on data ownership.
  • China will also enhance the authority of regulators, and include all financial activities into financial regulation, it said.
Updated 15 Mar, 2021 09:27pm
Libya's new interim PM takes office
World

Libya's new interim PM takes office

  • More than 1,000 kilometres (630 miles) from the capital Tripoli in the west, Tobruk has been the seat of Libya's elected parliament since 2014.
Published 15 Mar, 2021 06:02pm
UK shopper numbers rise for seventh week out of eight
Europe

UK shopper numbers rise for seventh week out of eight

  • Shopper numbers, or footfall, climbed 5.7% on UK high streets, was up 6.9% at retail parks, and up 9.8% at shopping centres.
  • The steady increase in visits to high streets and shopping centres delivers further evidence of the degree of pent up demand amongst consumers to return to stores.
Published 15 Mar, 2021 05:50pm
Brazil IBC-Br economic activity index jumps 1pc in January
USA

Brazil IBC-Br economic activity index jumps 1pc in January

  • The IBC-Br economic activity index, a leading indicator of gross domestic product, rose a seasonally adjusted 1.04% in December, significantly more than the 0.4% increase forecast in the Reuters poll. It was down 0.46% versus January last year.
Published 15 Mar, 2021 05:46pm
Canadian housing starts decline 13.5pc on month in February
USA

Canadian housing starts decline 13.5pc on month in February

  • The seasonally adjusted annualized rate of housing starts fell to 245,922 units from a revised 284,372 units in January, Canada's national housing agency said. Analysts had expected starts to fall to 245,000 units in February.
Published 15 Mar, 2021 05:32pm
U.S. becomes India's second biggest oil supplier, Saudi plunges to No. 4
USA

U.S. becomes India's second biggest oil supplier, Saudi plunges to No. 4

  • he United States overtook Saudi Arabia as India’s second biggest oil supplier after Iraq last month, as refiners boosted cheaper U.S. crude purchases to record levels to offset OPEC+ supply cuts, data from trade sources showed.
  • India’s imports from the United States - the world’s top producer - rose 48% to a record 545,300 bpd in February from the prior month, accounting for 14% of India’s overall imports last month.
Published 15 Mar, 2021 04:08pm
Kashmiris have suffered economic loss of over $5b since August 2019
World

Kashmiris have suffered economic loss of over $5b since August 2019

  • Conflict is a major source of food insecurity across the world, and Kashmir has become criminally trapped in the same situation, Munir Akram told UN Security Council.
  • The complete communications blackout have prevented Kashmiri farmers from reaching their farmlands, resulting in acute food shortages, the envoy further said.
Published 15 Mar, 2021 01:31pm
What you need to know about the coronavirus right now
World

What you need to know about the coronavirus right now

  • AstraZeneca Plc said a review of safety data for those who received its vaccine showed no evidence of increased risk of blood clots. The review covered more than 17 million people in Britain and the European Union.
Published 15 Mar, 2021 11:58am
Merkel party in crisis after defeat in regional polls
World

Merkel party in crisis after defeat in regional polls

  • In the days leading up to the regional votes, Merkel's CDU and its CSU Bavarian sister party were also rocked by revelations of lawmakers apparently profiting from deals to procure face masks in the early days of the pandemic.
Published 15 Mar, 2021 10:48am
World awaits China Covid origins report
World

World awaits China Covid origins report

  • Experts believe that SARS-CoV-2, the new coronavirus that causes Covid-19, originally came from bats, and jumped into humans via an intermediate animal.
Published 15 Mar, 2021 10:42am
Ireland latest country to suspend AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine
World

Ireland latest country to suspend AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine

  • Ireland became the latest country to stop using AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine on Sunday, temporarily suspending the shot “out of an abundance of caution” after reports from Norway of serious blood clotting in some recipients there. Denmark, Norway and Iceland have suspended the use of the vaccine over clotting issues, while Thailand became the first country outside of Europe to do so on Friday, delaying its AstraZeneca rollout over the safety concerns in Europe
Published 15 Mar, 2021 09:49am