Business

KARACHI: Gold rates in the local market slightly fell by Rs50 to Rs86,850 per tola. The rate of 10 grams of yellow metal decreased by Rs42 to Rs74,460. Meanwhile, gold in the global market also fell after a Brexit deal was struck by Britain and the European Union, though losses were limited by weak economic data from the United States and China.

A plane and its passengers are set to test the mental and physical limits of long-haul aviation when Qantas operates the first direct flight by a commercial airline from New York to Sydney this weekend. In the first of three “ultra-long-haul” test flights planned by Australia’s national flag carrier this year, researchers will monitor the effects on passengers of the 19-hour non-stop journey.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the technical team of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have continued its dialogues economic officials in Islamabad for the payment of the next tranche of $6 billion under the extended loan program, reported on Friday. Economic experts from Canada and the United States (US) among the visiting IMF team praised the Pakistani government over making a reduction in trade and current accounts.

ZURICH: Food group Nestle plans to return up to 20 billion Swiss francs ($20.13 billion) to shareholders over the next three years and reorganize its struggling waters business after organic sales growth slowed in the third quarter. Packaged food makers are branching out into new areas such as plant-based meat alternatives or products made from all-natural ingredients to boost growth in an otherwise sluggish market.

PESHAWAR: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has unearthed as many as 29 undeclared (benami) properties in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), reported on Thursday. As per details, the properties were identified in Peshawar’s areas of Hayatabad and University Town. The properties are registered against different Computerized National Identity Cards (CNICs).

STOCKHOLM: Telecoms equipment maker Ericsson beat quarterly earnings expectations on Thursday and lifted its market forecast for this year and its sales target for 2020, saying demand for superfast 5G networks was taking off more quickly than expected.

NEW DELHI: India is likely to miss its fiscal deficit target of 3.3% of gross domestic product for the current financial year by 30-50 basis points, two sources said, due to the sharp slowdown in the economy that has severely crimped tax collection goals.

RIYADH/LONDON/DUBAI: Saudi Arabia is setting the stage for a blockbuster listing of state oil giant Saudi Aramco in Riyadh, relying on easy credit for retail investors and pushing rich locals to invest with cash held abroad to achieve a $2 trillion valuation target.  

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China’s industry ministry on Thursday said it has added Tesla Inc to a government list of approved automotive manufacturers, granting the manufacturing certificate that the electric vehicle maker needs to start production in the country. The list was published by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Commerce and Egyptian Commercial Service signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the establishment of Pakistan-Egypt Joint Working Group (JWG) on trade. The first meeting of the JWG on Trade was held on the sidelines of the Pakistan-Egypt Trade Conference organized by the Ministry of Commerce and Textile here on Wednesday.