Town Hall News

By Ariba Shahid KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) – The Pakistani rupee on Friday strengthened 2.38% in interbank closing at 278.46 rupees against the dollar, a day after the central bank raised its policy interest rate by 300 basis points (bps) to 20%, trading data showed. The rupee, which fell more than 6% on Thursday, was trading at 275.5 against the dollar during the day, up nearly 3.5%, after the opening session. “The rupee may have appreciated […]

(Reuters) – U.S. equity funds saw huge money withdrawals in the seven days to March 1 on reinforced worries about the Federal Reserve’s policy tightening after economic data pointed to stickier-than-expected inflation. Refinitiv Lipper data showed investors offloaded a net $12.9 billion worth of U.S. equity funds, booking their biggest weekly disposal since Jan. 4. Fund flows: US equities, bonds and money market funds https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/gdvzqmbexpw/Fund%20flows%20US%20equities%20bonds%20and%20money%20market%20funds.jpg Meanwhile, money market funds drew […]

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Hungary is to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem next month in an act of support by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to his counterpart Benjamin Netahyahu, the Times of Israel reported on Friday. The move, if confirmed, would make Hungary the first member state of the European Union to open an embassy in Jerusalem, which Israel claims as its capital but which is not recognized […]

(Reuters) – Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Friday blamed a wave of poisonings of hundreds of schoolgirls around the country on Tehran’s enemies. The so-far unexplained poison attacks at more than 30 schools in at least four cities started in November in Iran’s Shi’ite Muslim holy city of Qom, prompting some parents to take their children out of school. Iran’s health minister said on Tuesday that hundreds of girls in […]

By Caitlin Tremblay WARSAW (Reuters) -An opposition-linked Polish mayor had his phone hacked using Pegasus spyware, Gazeta Wyborcza daily reported on Friday, amid allegations that the country’s special services have used the technology against government opponents. Reports in 2021 by the Associated Press that the software, developed by Israel-based NSO Group was used to hack the phones of government critics, including a senator for the largest opposition party, have drawn […]

By Saurabh Sharma NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Indian police on Friday arrested three senior employees of a pharmaceutical company whose cough syrups were linked to the deaths of 19 children in Uzbekistan, a police officer told Reuters. The arrests came after tests by an Indian government laboratory found 22 drug samples of Marion Biotech Pvt Ltd, based near New Delhi, “adulterated and spurious”, according to a police document seen by Reuters. […]

MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) – Bayern Munich coach Julian Nagelsmann must solve a defensive riddle ahead of Saturday’s Bundesliga match against VfB Stuttgart and next week’s Champions League clash against Paris St Germain. His best defender currently, in-form Benjamin Pavard, is suspended for their Round of 16 match against the French side next week after his red card in the first leg in Paris where Bayern won 1-0. His replacement next […]

BENGALURU (Reuters) – The Reserve Bank of India said on Friday it imposed a penalty of 30.7 million rupees ($374,770) on Amazon Pay Private Ltd for non-compliance with directions on prepaid payment instruments and Know Your Customer (KYC) rules. “This action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the entity with its customers,” […]

By Sinéad Carew NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. bank stocks have been attempting a comeback so-far this year after a more than 20% fall in 2022, fueled by hopes that the Federal Reserve will succeed in taming inflation without causing an economic catastrophe. The S&P 500 bank subsector is up 4.9% so far in 2023 slightly ahead of the benchmark S&P 500’s 3.3% gain. But some investors are circumspect as banks […]