Bearish sentiments persisted in the stock market for the fifth consecutive session mainly due to pre-poll uncertainty which dragged the benchmark KSE-100 index below the 64,000-point level on Wednesday. Topline Securities Ltd said equities moved in both directions. Initially, the index made an intraday high at 64,551 ( a gain of 380.37 points). However, profit-taking at the aforesaid level wip
IN December 2023, consumer prices were 29.7 per cent higher compared to December a year earlier. Worse still, every month for more than a year our year-on-year inflation number has been above 20pc. There was however positive news in the recent inflation data too. Prices in December rose by only 0.8pc over November, which was the second smallest monthly increase in a year. And just like Novem
Investors mainly banks were in a hurry to park a record Rs2.8 trillion in the treasury bills but the government remained cool and accepted only Rs283 billion in the auction held on Wednesday. Despite a cut in the cut-off yield up to 59 basis points, the investors were willing to invest Rs2.109tr in 12-month papers, Rs76.7bn in 6- and Rs568bn in 3-month tenors. Market experts found it a clear
Steel bar makers have increased the prices by Rs4,000 per tonne citing a bullish trend in iron and steel scrap on the world markets. Pakistan Association of Large Steel Producers (PALSP) General Secretary Syed Wajid Bukhari claimed that the new rates of steel bars hovered between Rs250,000-262,000 per tonne depending on the quality. He said some loss-making mills could not pass on the needed
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) says the unemployment rate in Asia-Pacific is expected to remain constant at 4.5 per cent during 2024-25 in view of the socio-economic developments in low- and middle-income economies of the region as poverty rates have decreased and youth education enrolment improved. At around 4.5pc, the regional unemployment rate fell below pre-pandemic levels in 2