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Bangladesh, Dhaka (BBN) – Bangladesh Business News prepares Thursday’s evening business round up compiling reports, published by different newspapers and news portals.
ACC sues ex-Standard Bank MD, 7 others
The Anti-Corruption Commission on Thursday filed a case against eight people, including a former managing director of Standard Bank for embezzling BDT 4 crore. ACC Assistant Director Muhammad Joynal Abedin filed the case at the ACC Integrated District Office, Dhaka-1.
ACC summons 14 aides of PK Halder in connection with money laundering
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has summoned 14 ‘aides’ of former NRB Global Bank’s Managing Director Proshanta Kumar Halder alias PK Halder in connection with laundering crores of taka from International Leasing and Financial Services Ltd (ILFSL). In separate letters, ACC’s Deputy Director Gulshan Anowar Prodhan asked proprietor of RB Enterprise Ratan Kumar Biswas, managing director of Earthscope Proshanto Deuri, Director of Earthscope Mostafizur Rahman, chairman of Nuetrical Swapan Kumar Mistri, Chairman of Wakama Subroto Das, Director of Wakama Suvra Rani Ghosh and Director of Wakama Tofazzal Hossain to appear before the ACC on February 10.
Bangladesh to get 12.8 million vaccines under Covax by June
Bangladesh will get 1,27,92,000 doses of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in the first half of 2021 under Covax program. Covax is co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Gavi vaccine alliance, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. The Covax program to ensure equitable worldwide access to Covid-19 vaccines on Wednesday published its first distribution list, with enough doses for countries to immunize more than 3% of their populations by mid-2021.
Asia-Pacific stocks fall
Shares in major Asia-Pacific markets slipped on Thursday, with South Korea leading the losses. The Kospi in South Korea declined 1.35% to close at 3,087.55. Mainland Chinese stocks also closed lower, with the Shanghai composite down 0.44% to 3.501.86 while the Shenzhen component slid 0.835% to 15,105.94. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dipped about 0.6%, as of its final hour of trading.
Gold and silver slammed lower as the US dollar flexes its muscles
The price of gold continues to move lower and is set to test its recent nadir around $1,806/oz. The precious metal has been hit recently by a better risk-on tone and by a steeper US Treasury yield curve, a signal that economic expansion and a pick-up in inflation is expected further down the line. The closely watched UST2-10 curve is now over 100 basis points, a level not seen in nearly four years. This pick-up in yields is also underpinning the US dollar, which looks to have made a short-term bottom.
Oil climbs after OPEC+ maintains oil output cuts, U.S. stock draw
Oil prices extended gains on Thursday after the OPEC+ alliance of major producers stuck to a reduced output policy, and as crude stockpiles in the United States fell to their lowest levels since March last year. Brent crude futures gained 47 cents, or 0.8%, to $58.93 a barrel, by 0317 GMT, having earlier hit their highest since Feb. 21, 2020 in the wake of the OPEC+ decision. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures climbed 49 cents, or 0.9%, to $56.18 a barrel after reaching its highest settlement level in a year on Wednesday.
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