Islamabad: President Asif Ali Zardari has called an important session today (Wednesday).

According to the details, the session will be held in Bilawal house at 4pm today in Karachi in which federal interior minister Mohsin Naqvi will also be attending the session.

However, it is likely to consider that the session has summoned on the situation regarding the law and order. The chief minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah, inspector generals including all the officials will be attending the session.

The discussion will be conducted in the session on the matters of country’s security situation and including others.

LONDON (Reuters): Oil fell more than 1% on Wednesday, losing ground for a third straight session on hopes of a ceasefire agreement in the Middle East and by rising crude inventories and production in top consumer the United States.

Expectations that a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas could be in sight have grown following a renewed push led by Egypt, even as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to go ahead with a long-promised assault on Rafah.

Brent crude futures for July fell 95 cents to $85.38 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for June dropped $1.16 to $80.77 at 0810 GMT. Both benchmarks were down more than 1%.

"The crude market is weighed down by continued hopes for a ceasefire," said Ole Hansen of Saxo Bank.

"In addition, stubborn U.S. inflation has further reduced rate cut expectations."

U.S. Federal Reserve officials are concluding their latest two-day policy meeting on Wednesday and are expected to hold interest rates steady. A rate cut would act as a boost to economic growth and fuel demand.

"Continued signs of inflation also raised concerns about demand for crude oil. This comes ahead of the U.S. driving season, where demand for gasoline rises strongly," ANZ analysts said in a report on Wednesday.

Further weighing on prices were separate reports that U.S. crude inventories rose and production increased.

U.S. crude inventories rose 4.906 million barrels in the week ended April 26, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures, which defied expectations for a decline of 1.1 million barrels.

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Traders will be waiting to see if official data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) at 1430 GMT confirms the trend.

On Tuesday, the EIA said U.S. production rose to 13.15 million barrels per day (bpd) in February from 12.58 million bpd in January, its biggest monthly increase in about 3-1/2 years.

LONDON (Reuters): Bitcoin fell for a third day on Wednesday, having posted its worst monthly performance in April since late 2022, as investors pulled money out of cryptocurrencies ahead of an interest rate decision by the Federal Reserve later.

The value of the world's most traded cryptocurrency fell by nearly 16% in April, as investors booked profits on a sizzling rally that has taken the price to record highs above $70,000.

Bitcoin was last down 4.7% to $57,055, its lowest since late February, while losses in ether were more modest, down 3.6% at $2,857, also at its weakest since February.

The price of bitcoin is now a full 22% below March's record of $73,803, technically putting it in a bear market. But it is still up 35% so far this year and double where it was this time last year, thanks in large part to the billions of dollars flowing into newly minted exchange-traded funds since January.

"The recent downtrend can be attributed to increased profit-taking by investors who entered the market during the downturns of 2022 and 2023, as well as ETF investors who witnessed significant price appreciation on their shares after entering the market in the early weeks of 2024," Fineqia research analyst Matteo Greco said.

On the macro front, the Fed is not expected to make any changes to interest rates later, but the view is taking root among investors that the central bank may not cut rates at all this year, delivering a blow to interest rate-sensitive assets such as cryptocurrencies, emerging market stocks and bonds or even commodities.

Investors have responded accordingly. The 10 largest U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs are facing their biggest weekly outflow since their inception in January.

Outflows are up to $496 million this week, mostly as flows into BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT.O), opens new tab, the largest in terms of holdings, have slowed, according to LSEG data.

Bitcoin's so-called "halving event" last month has done little to prop up the price. Since April 20, when halving took place, bitcoin has dropped some 15%. Many investors bought into the market in the run-up to the event, which involves a change to the cryptocurrency's underlying technology that happened and is designed to cut the rate at which new bitcoins are created.