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Bangladesh, Dhaka (BBN) - Bangladesh Business News prepares Monday’s evening business round up compiling reports, published by different newspapers and news portals.
WB offers $500m for western region of Bangladesh
The Bangladesh government signed a $500 million financing agreement with the World Bank (WB) on Monday to help upgrade the western region of the country. Under the programme titled ‘Western Economic Corridor and Regional Enhancement (WeCARE) Program Phase I’ the Jashore-Jhenaidah highway will be upgraded and the connecting rural roads and markets will be improved. The project will help to upgrade the 48 KM two-lane Jashore-Jhenaidah road to a modern 4-lane highway and benefit over 20 million people living in the western region, said a press release of the WB.
Healthcare workers must stay at workstation till February 10: health directorate DG
All healthcare workers across the country have to stay at workstation until February 10 for Covid-19 vaccination. None of them will be granted any leave during this period, Prof ABM Khurshid Alam, the director general of the health directorate, said today. He was briefing journalists this noon following a virtual meeting with all civil surgeons, upazila health officers and directors of the medical colleges.
South Korea surges nearly 3% as Asia-Pacific stocks rise
Stocks in Asia-Pacific surged on Monday as silver prices saw strong gains. South Korea’s Kospi led gains among the region’s major markets, jumping 2.7% to close at 3,056.53 as shares of biopharmaceutical firm Celltrion soared 14.51%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index also saw robust gains, advancing 2.15% to finish its trading day at 28,892.86.
Silver jumps 11%, the most in 11 years as Reddit traders try their squeeze play with the metal
Futures contracts for silver surged higher early Monday morning as the Reddit-fueled boom in highly shorted stocks appears to be spilling over into the metals market. Spot silver prices jumped 11.2% to $29.93 an ounce shortly after 7 a.m. ET. If this holds, it would be the biggest one-day pop in silver on NYMEX since a 13% spike in March 2009. The metal briefly hit $30.03 to register its highest level since Feb. 2013 before paring some of its gains.
India to double health-care spending to $30 billion in new budget
India’s finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, presented the country’s budget Monday for the fiscal year that begins April 1 and ends March 31, 2022. In her speech to Parliament, she proposed more than doubling India’s health-care and wellbeing spending to 2.2 trillion rupees ($30.1 billion). That includes a new federal scheme with an outlay of 641 billion rupees over six years to develop the country’s capacity for primary, secondary and tertiary care as well as to strengthen national institutions and create new ones to detect and cure new diseases, Sitharaman said.
Indian Rupee, Nifty 50 Outlook: Will USD/INR and the Stock Index Reverse Next?
The Indian Rupee may be at risk against the US Dollar in the short term. USD/INR is trading around the 72.76 – 73.00 support zone that was established back in early September. Moreover, recent price declines have been met with positive RSI divergence. This is a signal of fading downside momentum which can at times precede a turn higher. In the event of a climb, keep a close eye on the falling zone of resistance from early November. This could reinstate the focus to the downside. Beyond that sits a long-term falling trendline from April 2020. From a fundamental standpoint, weaker Indian inflation has raised prospects of further easing from the Reserve Bank of India which can offer some upside pressure for the pair down the road.
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