DAWN - Business; January 12, 2008

Low Graphics Site


January 12, 2008	Saturday	Muharram 02,1429

Blame game may prolong sugarcane crushing ISLAMABAD, Jan 11: Farmers are so far able to harvest only 20 per cent of sugarcane crop as government fears undue extension in the crushing season following mill owners’ threat of...		US trade deficit swells 9.3pc in November WASHINGTON, Jan 11: The US trade deficit widened a sharp 9.3 per cent in November to a larger-than-expected $63.1 billion, mainly due to surging crude oil costs, the government said on Friday....

Business team raises issue of losses KARACHI, Jan 11: All the losses suffered during Dec 27 to Dec 31 in loot, plunder, rioting and arson following tragic killing of Ms Benazir Bhutto amount to eight per cent...		Buyers raise doubts about timely delivery KARACHI, Jan 11: Foreign buyers have now started raising questions about ability of the manufacturing sector in general and textile industry in particular of timely delivery of export consignments as the manufacturing units have been facing severe power and gas crisis.After...

Oil prices tumble on US demand concerns LONDON, Jan 11: World oil prices fell back on Friday despite news of more unrest in key producer Nigeria, with worries about the US economy dominating trading, analysts said....		Dollar steadies as gold hits all-time high LONDON, Jan 11: The dollar gained slightly in European trade on Friday after tumbling a day earlier and the price of gold raced to a record above $900 an ounce, traders said....

Banks borrow Rs43bn from State Bank KARACHI, Jan 11: Money market on Friday witnessed a serious liquidity crunch, forcing banks to get help from the State Bank which says it will continue to follow tight monetary policy in the future....		Reserves fall to $15.55bn KARACHI, Jan 11: Pakistan'' foreign exchange reserves fell by $19 million to $15.55 billion in the week that ended on Jan 5, the central bank said on Friday....

Growth declines PARIS, Jan 11: Most of the world''s leading industrialised nations are facing an economic slowdown while China, Russia and Brazil are expected to see improved or continued growth, the OECD said on Friday....		Top WTO farm negotiator sees ‘lot of progress’ GENEVA, Jan 11: The World Trade Organisation’s chief agriculture negotiator said on Friday that members have made “a lot of progress” in recent talks but more still needs to be done before an agreement is reached....

Indian industrial growth slows sharply NEW DELHI, Jan 11: India’s industrial output growth slowed to its lowest level in 13 months in November, according to data on Friday, but analysts forecast no swift cut in interest rates to spur the economy....		Canada, HK sign investment accord OTTAWA, Jan 11: Canada’s Trade Minister David Emerson and Frederick Ma, Hong Kong''s secretary for commerce, announced on Friday the signing of a MoU to promote bilateral investments....

100-share index dips below 14,000-level KARACHI, Jan 11: The KSE 100-share index on Friday breached through the psychological barrier of 14,000 points but ended well above the session’s low on late stray short-covering in some of the pivotals at the lower levels....		Brisk buying on cotton market KARACHI, Jan 11: Spinners and mills on Friday resumed their covering operations after having taken a technical breather and lifted about 40,000 bales as some of the ginners modestly lowered their asking prices....

Two banks announce profit rates KARACHI, Jan 11: The Soneri Bank has declared the rates of profit on PLS deposits for the half year between July-December, 2007....		Chinese trade surplus soars to record in 2007 BEIJING, Jan 11: China''s trade surplus surged nearly 50 per cent last year to surpass 260 billion dollars, official data showed on Friday, a stunning rise certain to see more global pressure for Chinese currency reform....

Karachi Port operations KARACHI, Jan 11: Four vessels carrying containers and general cargo are expected to arrive at the outer anchorage on Saturday, according to KPT sources....		BoA buys struggling Countrywide NEW YORK, Jan 11: Bank of America said on Friday it was buying struggling Countrywide Financial in a four-billion-dollar deal that rescues the nation''s largest mortgage lender amid a housing crisis....

Asian shares close mostly down HONG KONG, Jan 11: Asian shares closed mostly down on Friday with Japan slumping to its lowest point in more than two years, but Malaysia bucked the trend to close at yet another record high....		Kenya’s tea auction sells 344.3m kg NAIROBI, Jan 11: Kenya’s tea auction sold a total 344.3 million kg of tea in the whole of 2007, 262.3 million kg of which originated in Kenya, statistics by the Africa Tea Brokers showed on Friday....

HK gold HONG KONG, Jan 11: Hong Kong gold prices hit a new all-time high on Friday, touching US$897.70-898.20 an ounce, but failed to tip over the $900 mark, dealers said....		Karachi market rates KARACHI, Jan 11: The following were Friday’s commodity market rates in rupees....

Indonesian palm oil up JAKARTA, Jan 11: Indonesia palm oil prices extended gains as the Malaysian market hit fresh record on Friday with buyers returning to the market, worried that prices may go up further....