Business
Gold hits new highs on rate cut bets | The Express Tribune
KARACHI:
Gold prices in Pakistan soared to new all-time highs on Monday, mirroring the international surge that pushed the precious metal above $3,900 per ounce, fueled by growing expectations of a US Federal Reserve rate cut and heightened economic and political uncertainty in the United States, France, and Japan.
According to the All Pakistan Sarafa Gems and Jewellers Association (APSGJA), the price of gold per tola reached Rs415,278 after a single-day rise of Rs5,400, while the rate for 10 grams rose by Rs4,629 to settle at Rs356,033. On Saturday, the per-tola price had already climbed to Rs409,878 following a gain of Rs2,100.
The latest rally marks a continuation of gold’s seven-week winning streak, during which the metal has repeatedly set new records. However, analysts now warn that the rally may be overstretched.
In a post on X, market watcher Walter Bloomberg quoted the Bank of America (BofA) as saying that gold’s surge may “cool as it nears $4,000/oz.” The bank noted that such seven-week uptrends have historically been followed by short-term pullbacks since 1983, adding that gold is now trading well above key moving averages, with momentum indicators flashing overbought signals.
BofA expects a pause or correction before any renewed upward move, possibly towards $5,000 per ounce in the longer run.
Commenting on the situation, Interactive Commodities Director Adnan Agar said gold’s recent strength has stretched the rally significantly. “Gold is still standing at the same high. So far, it has set an all-time high of $3,950, and it is around $3,947,” he said.
“As soon as the market opened, it increased by $50-60. Now, warnings are also coming from international brokers because the rally has stretched a lot. For seven weeks, the candles have been closing green – meaning prices have been consistently rising. So the chances are now very high that a correction will come.”
Agar added that the $4,000 level is a psychological resistance, prompting many investors to book profits, which could lead to a $100-200 correction before the next bullish leg.
“We believe the market will come close to $4,000, then correct by $100-200, and afterwards resume its upward move,” he said. Meanwhile, silver prices also recorded an uptick, rising by Rs53 per tola to reach Rs4,949.
The Pakistani rupee registered a slight uptick against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Monday. By the day’s end, the local currency stood at 281.25, marking a modest appreciation of one paisa.
Over the past week, the rupee also posted a marginal weekly gain, strengthening by 11 paisa, or 0.04%, against the dollar. According to data from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the rupee had closed the previous week at 281.26 compared to 281.37 a week earlier.
Business
Indias Net Direct Tax Collections In FY26 Rise, Grow 8.82% To Rs 18.38 Lakh Crore Till Jan 11
New Delhi: India’s net direct tax collections for the financial year 2025–26 recorded strong growth of 8.82%, reaching Rs 18.38 lakh crore as of January 11, 2026, compared with Rs 16.89 lakh crore collected during the same period last year, according to official data released by the Income Tax Department on Monday.
Gross direct tax collections stood at Rs 21.50 lakh crore, marking a 4.14% increase over the Rs 20.64 lakh crore collected in the corresponding period of FY25. Corporate tax collections rose modestly to Rs 10.47 lakh crore, while non-corporate tax collections—which include taxes paid by individuals and other entities—increased to Rs 10.58 lakh crore.
Refunds issued during the period declined sharply by 16.92% to Rs 3.12 lakh crore from Rs 3.75 lakh crore in the previous year, contributing to higher net collections. Net corporate tax collections rose to Rs 8.63 lakh crore, while net non-corporate tax collections increased significantly to Rs 9.30 lakh crore. Securities Transaction Tax (STT) collections remained stable at around Rs 44,867 crore, while collections from other taxes were marginal during the period.
The Union Budget 2026 will be presented on February 1. Earlier, in an email interview with ANI, Sonal Badhan, Economist at Bank of Baroda, said the Union Budget 2026 is likely to target 8.5–9% growth next year and increase capital expenditure to Rs 12–12.2 lakh crore.
“We expect the government to meet its fiscal deficit target of 4.4% for FY26. For next year, we estimate the deficit ratio will be lowered by 30–40 basis points to 4–4.1%. Capital expenditure allocation will be of key interest. In the ongoing fiscal year, the government has already met around 60% of the budgeted target till November 2025,” the BoB economist said.
Bank executives were sent scrambling over the weekend after President Donald Trump declared late Friday that American credit card companies would be subject to a 10% cap on the interest rate they can charge customers.
The move sent shares of large banks including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America down between 1% and 4% in early trading Monday. Companies more tightly tethered to the card industry, like Visa, Mastercard and American Express, also fell. Capital One, whose loan book is mostly from credit cards, sank nearly 7%.
Trump proposed a one-year cap on interest rates starting Jan. 20. While it’s unclear exactly how that would be enforced, the industry’s message is clear: the plan would bring unintended consequences for consumers and the American economy.
The move would make large swaths of the credit card industry unprofitable, especially tied to customers with less-than-ideal credit profiles, according to banks and analysts. The average credit card rate nationally is 19.7% as of this month, according to a weekly survey from Bankrate.com, while rates for subprime borrowers and store-specific cards are even higher.
Rather than offer loss-making products to consumers, the industry would simply stop offering access to customers with subprime credit, along with a slew of other changes around card programs including scaling back rewards, insiders say. Consumers would either spend less or rely on other forms of unsecured debt, many of which carry even higher interest rates than credit cards, they say.
“We cannot offer products at a loss; there’s no scenario where we would take our entire portfolio to 10%,” said a person with knowledge of the operations of a large bank, who asked to remain anonymous to speak candidly. “It’s not a stretch to suggest this will very quickly tank the economy.”
The drag on the economy from less spending could be more acute for airlines, retailers and restaurants, which would have to make up for lost card revenues by “potentially raising pricing” on their services, KBW analysts led by Sanjay Sakhrani and Chris McGratty said in a Jan. 11 research note.
The industry’s trade groups issued a joint statement late Friday making their case.
“Evidence shows that a 10% interest rate cap would reduce credit availability and be devastating for millions of American families and small business owners who rely on and value their credit cards, the very consumers this proposal intends to help,” the trade groups said.
(L-R) Wells Fargo CEO and President Charles Scharf, Brian Bank of America Chairman and CEO Thomas Moynihan, JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser, State Street CEO Ronald OÕHanley, BNY Mellon CEO Robin Vince, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon and Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman, testify during a Wall Street oversight hearing by the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, December 6, 2023.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
‘Opening bid?’
This isn’t the industry’s first time contending with possible price controls. A bill was introduced last year from Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont that would limit card APRs at 10% for five years.
While that bill is stalled in Congress, a study looking at the Missouri market from the Electronic Payments Coalition found that a 10% cap on rates would mean that more than 80% of card accounts would lose access. Most accounts with credit scores below 740 would be shut, the study claimed.
Complicating matters, it is unclear to bankers how Trump’s rate cap would take place.
The most straightforward approach, through legislation in Congress, isn’t possible by the proposed Jan. 20 start date, said Tobin Marcus, head of U.S. policy at Wolfe Research.
Other enforcement means, through banking regulators including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, are also possible. But the Trump administration has repeatedly tried to shutter that agency, and the industry has had a successful run at defeating CFPB rules in federal courts.
“I’m not aware of an authority that they can use to do this unilaterally in any kind of a sweeping way,” Marcus said. “As far as I can tell, telling them they have until Jan. 20 is an attempt to create pressure and have them do it voluntarily.”
While the exact mechanism that Trump can use to enforce an interest rate cap is unclear, card issuers now face the risk that rates could be headed lower in some form of negotiated compromise with the government, KBW’s McGratty said in an interview.
“Is 10% an opening bid?” he said. “There’s a long distance between 10% and what companies charge today.”
Americans had a collective $1.23 trillion in credit card debt as of the third quarter last year, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Balances have been climbing as many Americans spent down the savings they’d built up during the global coronavirus pandemic.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Capital One.
Business
Boeing 737 MAX lawsuits: Second US trial opens over 2019 Ethiopian Airlines crash; Canadian family presses damages claim – The Times of India
A US federal court in Chicago on Monday began hearing a second damages trial against Boeing over the fatal 2019 crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX aircraft, as a Canadian plaintiff sought compensation for the loss of multiple family members in the tragedy.The case has been filed by Manant Vaidya, whose sister Kosha Vaidya and parents Pannagesh and Hansini Vaidya were among the 157 people killed when Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed in March 2019. Vaidya also lost his brother-in-law and two young nieces in the incident, AP reported.Jury selection in the case is expected to begin on Monday, with opening statements likely on Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday, according to court proceedings.“It is hard to believe that my entire family was wiped out in an instant incident in such a horrific way,” Vaidya said in a statement published on the website of his attorneys at Clifford Law Firm. “I still cry and my wife, Hiral, still cries when we think of the horror of the last moments of our loved ones’ lives.”The Vaidya family, which lived in Canada, was travelling to Kenya, the homeland of Kosha Vaidya, at the time of the crash.Relatives of Vaidya’s brother-in-law and nieces had filed a separate lawsuit against Boeing, which was settled out of court in July 2025.The Ethiopian Airlines crash followed a similar fatal accident involving a Lion Air 737 MAX aircraft in Indonesia in October 2018. Together, the two crashes claimed 346 lives and led to the worldwide grounding of the 737 MAX fleet. Investigations linked both incidents to the aircraft’s Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), a flight-stabilising software.Boeing has acknowledged responsibility for the crashes and issued apologies to the victims’ families.“Boeing is deeply sorry for the losses suffered by the families,” a company spokesperson said, adding that the company is committed to “fully and fairly compensate” the victims and has “accepted legal responsibility for the accidents.”“While we have resolved the vast majority of these claims through settlements, families are also entitled to pursue their claims through damages trials in court, and we respect their right to do so,” the spokesperson said.The trial comes weeks after a US jury in the same Chicago courthouse ordered Boeing to pay $28.45 million in damages to the family of an Indian victim of the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines crash.
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