Fire claims one life
KarachiA fire in a shanty claimed the life of one child on Friday afternoon. Two-and-half-year-old Khurram, and Anis, one, residing in
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Jaw trouble linked with osteoporosis drugs
The proportion of people taking widely prescribed oral osteoporosis drugs who develop a nasty jaw condition may be much higher than previously thought
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Diesel not CNG buses for city
LAHORETHE provincial Transport Department has decided to bring 500 new diesel buses instead of CNG buses for city.Official sources tol
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Pakistan News
Govt to prefer public-private partnership in privatisation
ISLAMABAD: The government, in its policy of privatising major enterprises, would prefer pubic-private partnership rather than selling whole units, a s
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Transport problems delay imported urea dispatches
KARACHI: The government has decided to generate business activity at the still inactive Gwadar Port in this regard there are plans to export cement an
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World stocks up in New Year rally
LONDON: Global stocks skyrocketed on Friday in the first trading day of 2009 amid investor hopes for a brighter year ahead after a horrendous 2008 that hacked down stock markets around the world.After New Year’’s rallies in Europe and Asia, Wall Street followed suit with the Nasdaq soaring 2.08 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 1.70 percent in morning trading.The broad-market Standard Poor’’s 500 index was also up 1.73 percent.”The mindset may be that the turmoil of 2008 is now behind us and that 2009, although not set to be great, needs to start with a bang,” said CMC Markets trader Jimmy Yates.In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 index shot up 4.09 percent, the Frankfurt Dax soared 3.39 percent and the FTSE 100 in London rose 2.88 percent.The three key markets had shed between 31 percent and 43 percent in 2008.Elsewhere in Europe, Belgian stocks were up 3.78 percent, Spain rose 3.16 percent, Italy was up 2.79 percent, while Amsterdam rocketed up 5.00 percent.Hong Kong share prices also closed 4.6 percent higher, boosted by pre-New Year gains on Wall Street and bargain hunting, dealers said.The Tokyo stock market was shut until Monday after closing the year down 42.12 percent, its worst-ever annual percentage fall.Friday’’s rally was an extension of the uptick in global stock markets ahead of the New Year’’s holiday earlier this week.Dendra Lambert, analyst at Hilliard Lyons, said a two-day rally to close out the year was a positive sign.”After experiencing the worst losses since the Great Depression, some onlookers believe bargain hunters were starting to emerge in the final days of trading of 2008,” she said.Reykjavik suffered the biggest loss of any stock market in 2008, with the Icelandic bourse diving 94 percent in value. It was followed by Moscow, which plunged 72.5 percent and Dubai which shed 72 percent.Iceland’’s once booming financial sector crumbled under the weight of the worldwide credit crunch in October, forcing the government to take control of the major banks while its currency nosedived.Markets were last year hammered by the world economic crisis, which was sparked by the collapse of the subprime, or higher risk, mortgage market in the United States.Shares went into a tailspin soon after following the failure of Wall Street banking icon Lehman Brothers under a mountain of debt. Giant insurer American International Group then had to be bailed out by Washington.A 700-billion-dollar rescue package for the ailing US financial industry was unable to stop the rot as the United States and other leading nations entered recession.
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NA body advocates financial autonomy for POF
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Defence Production on Friday advocated award of financial autonomy to the Pakistan Ordnance Fac
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PCB to get final SL tour itinerary on Sunday
KARACHI: Pakistan are expecting to finally line up their home series against Sri Lanka within the next couple of days.Saleem Altaf, the Pakist
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Pakistan News
SECP should not dictate rates for mutual funds: CCP
ISLAMABAD: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has recommended SECP to withdraw its circular directing asset management companies to value de
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Power, gas crises get out of control
LAHORETHE electricity and gas crises have gone out of control of the government, which is evident from the mass protests in Punjab, as the cri
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