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Asian stocks jump as Nikkei recovers some losses following strong U.S. data
Asian stocks jumped Friday as strong U.S. data lifted confidence about the ability of the U.S. economy to withstand any cut in stimulus. The upbeat retail sales and jobless claims triggered a rally on Wall Street and soothed the panicking Asian markets ahead of next weeks Federal Reserve policy ...
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Fish Prices Leap to All-Time High Thanks to China
Global fish prices have leapt to all-time highs as China's growing appetite for high-end species - from tuna to oysters - runs up against lower catches. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation's global fish price index, an industry benchmark that tracks the cost of wild and farmed seafood, hit a record high in May, up 15 per cent from a year ago and above the peak set in mid 2011. ...
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Nikkei rises 1.3 pct on weak yen Fed hopes Softbank soars
* Investors still cautious ahead of Fed outcome * Softbank soars after Dish abandons Sprint bid * Tepco tumbles as highly toxic substance found at plant By Ayai Tomisawa TOKYO, June 19 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average rose to a one-week high on Wednesday morning, underpinned by optimism that the U.S. Federal Reserve would temper worries about an imminent roll back of its stimulus ...
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Asian markets subdued as Fed looms Nikkei rallies
the rest of Asia was restrained as investors waited for clarity on the Federal Reserve's next policy step. Major currencies were subdued as well ahead of the outcome of the ...
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Cathay Pacific traffic figures for May 2013
Cathay Pacific Airways released combined Cathay Pacific and Dragonair traffic figures for May 2013 that again show a year-on-year drop in the number of passengers carried and cargo and mail tonnage. Cathay Pacific and Dragonair carried a total of 2,338,703 passengers in May – a drop of 0.8% compared to the same month last year. The passenger load factor was up by 0.5 percentage points ...
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Singapore Airlines May 2013 operating results
The operating results for May 2013 are given in the table below: In May 2013, Singapore Airlines' system wide passenger carriage (measured in revenue passenger kilometres) increased 1.3% on the back of 3.1% growth in capacity (measured in available seat kilometers). Consequently, passenger load factor (PLF) fell by 1.2 percentage points to 74.6%. The number of passengers carried ...
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Hong Kong Investigates HSBC for Manipulating Rates
Hong Kong's de facto central bank said on Tuesday that its investigation into possible benchmark rate manipulation has been extended to include HSBC and a number of other banks.The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced in December that it was investigating UBS about possible misconduct relating to its submissions for the Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rate ...
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Japanese Exports Soar on Weak Yen
Japanese exports rose a stronger-than-expected 10.1 percent in May from a year earlier, compared with a 3.8 percent rise the previous month in a sign that a ...
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Qantas IT glitch lists $11000 Sydney-Melbourne fares
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Huge revenue losses feared in fake transactions
KARACHI: The national exchequer is likely to suffer huge revenue losses of two percent general sales tax (GST) per product sold by multinational and local companies - as their distributors are charging sales tax rate of 19 percent - rather than the official 17 percent GST - on supplies to retail outlets, retailers told the News. This is done on fake invoices making the transaction illegal, they ...
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Govt borrowing rises by Rs47 billion
KARACHI: Pakistan's government borrowing from domestic banking sources has risen by Rs 47 billion in fiscal year 2012-13, as compared to the same period last year, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported on Tuesday. This heavy borrowing from the banking system - as shortfall in public finances weighs on the weak economy - means fear is rising of the country slipping into a "debt ...
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Oil consumption rises by 15 percent
KARACHI: Oil consumption shot up by 15 percent on month-on-month basis and seven percent on year-on-year basis in May based on provisional figures. Petrol sales jumped to a record level of 360k tons, up by 24 percent on month-on-month basis and 47 percent on year-on-year basis, as analysts believe the election campaigning and enhanced CNG outages, particularly in Punjab, contributed towards ...
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Circular debt to be wiped out in 60 days
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar told Korean Ambassador Choongjoo Choi that circular debt will be wiped out in 60 days in a bid to reform the business environment in Pakistan, in a meeting on Tuesday. Pakistan currently has a circular debt of Rs503 billion, which remains a key factor in the country's massive energy imbroglio. The energy shortfall has led to closure of ...
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Deceptive GST increase slammed
KARACHI: The budget presented by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in parliament last week will stoke up inflation and contradicts the election manifesto of the ruling PML-N govt, experts said at Jang Forum on Tuesday. The proposed increase in General Sales Tax (GST) to 17 percent has already resulted in the increased prices of most goods and reduced the purchasing power of people, speakers at the ...
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KSE struggles to attract investors with new products
KARACHI: Five products launched by the Karachi Stock Exchange to attract local investors after the stock market crashed in 2008 received response from less than 10 percent of traders, officials said on Tuesday. The stock market reached a major milestone when the KSE-100 index crossed the 15,000-point barrier for the first time in the country's history. The market peaked at 15,737.32 points ...
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Group life insurance premium raised
ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan has doubled the minimum premium limit for group life insurance required for certification of an appointed actuary of a life insurer. According to the SECP, the limit has been increased from one million to two million rupees. It has also issued circular No 11/2013 amending circular No.9/2005, which will take effect from July 1, 2013. ...
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KTBA terms levy on moveable assets blow to savings
KARACHI: The Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA) has termed the measure of 0.5 percent levy on net moveable assets as a blow to generations of savings, which are already very low in the country. At a post-budget seminar organised by the KTBA on Tuesday, Haider Patel, the president of the bar association, said that the 0.5 percent levy on net moveable assets from all individual taxpayers on an ...
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Businessmen urged to avail opportunities in Ukraine
LAHORE: Pakistan's ambassador designate to Ukraine Wajahat Ali has urged Pakistani businessmen to avail trade opportunities in Ukraine as the country holds a great market for Pakistani products. He was addressing the members of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Tuesday. He said that textiles, textile made-ups, pharmaceuticals, rice, fruits, surgical and sports goods have ...
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ECB rates becoming effective Draghi
JERUSALEM: The European Central Bank is ready to act to aid the Eurozone economy if needed, while signs of market stabilisation mean interest rates are becoming a more effective tool again, ECB chief Mario Draghi said on Tuesday. Speaking in Jerusalem at a farewell conference for Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer, Draghi said there were numerous measures the ECB could and would deploy if ...
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Protesters abound in Sukkur
SUKKUR: Employees of the Town Municipal Administration (TMA) Sukkur protested on Tuesday against the nonpayment of their salaries for nine months. TMA employees first shutdown their offices and later marched to Sukkur Press Club to set up a hunger strike camp. The disgruntled workers said authorities had withheld their salaries without any justification. They said their dependents were facing ...
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Thar coal recognised at forum
KARACHI: Sindh Board of Investment Chairman Muhammad Zubair Motiwala said on Tuesday that the quality of reserves at Thar Coal have been recognised by world-renowned institutions, including the Clean Coal Forum 2013 in Beijing, China. While giving a briefing, the SBI chairman said access and infrastructure at Thar is being developed for increased participation of local and foreign investors. The ...
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Fuel hike hinges on compensation
JAKARTA: Indonesia will hike petrol prices once the government has finalised the process to compensate poor families for the rise in fuel costs, the finance minister said on Tuesday. Chatib Basri did not provide a specific timeline on when that may occur. Under the government's measures, ordinary gasoline will rise 44 percent and diesel by 22 percent. Parliament approved the plan on ...
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Psha seeks forward looking policies
KARACHI: At a post-budget appraisal meeting, the Pakistan Software Houses Association for IT and ITES (P@SHA) discussed pressing issues confronting the new state minister of IT and telecom. P@sha is the only registered professional trade body representing the information technology and business process outsourcing sector in Pakistan. Its primary mandate is the growth of the technology sector, ...
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EU US launch trade talks
ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland: The United States and the European Union launched talks on Monday to create one of the world's most ambitious free-trade zones, as France again underscored its determination to protect its movies and culture. A trans-Atlantic free trade agreement was first considered three decades ago but was knocked down by France in the 1990s. Europe has now managed to get ...
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British inflation up to 2.7pc in May
LONDON: British 12-month inflation accelerated to 2.7 percent in May, rebounding from a seven-month low point struck in April, official data showed on Tuesday. Analysts' consensus forecast had been for a rise in the 12-month rate to 2.6 percent, according to Dow Jones Newswires. "The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) grew by 2.7 percent in the year to May 2013, up from 2.4 percent in ...
Hong Kong Feature
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Electoral reform hot topic for Hong Kong
Hong Kong is going through more growing pains, perhaps even the most uncomfortable since the city was handed back to Beijing by Britain. Pro-democracy advocates want to be able to vote for the entire legislative council, a direct challenge to Beijing.
Hong Kong was handed back to China in 1997. At that time, Beijing made an agreement with Britain that under a law called the Basic Law, all the civil liberties which were existent in Hong Kong at the time of the hand over would remain in place for at least 50 years, by which time it is envisioned, by the pro-democracy camp at any rate, that the Special Administrative Region will be fully democratic at any rate. Read more
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