Business

KARACHI: Gold outperformed all major invest­ment avenues by a significant margin in 2022, a research note issued by Topline Securities showed on Tuesday. It was followed by one-year (dollar-based) Naya Pakistan Certificates and the US currency as the best-performing assets in the outgoing year. These three asset classes provided returns that were higher than the estimated average inflation of around …

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan has eased imports of several essential items required as raw material and some basic needs of the exporters. A circular issued by the SBP on Tuesday stated that the central bank had decided to withdraw its instructions with effect from Jan 2, 2023, paving the way for acceptance of requests for import transactions already …

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar assured investors on Monday that there was no chance Pakistan would default, insisting that the country had a “beautiful future and a resilient economy”. He made the remarks while addressing a ceremony to mark the first listing of the developmental Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). REITs are investment schemes that …

Nishat Chunian Limited, one of Pakistan’s largest textile companies, informed investors on Wednesday that it was temporarily shutting off some spindles because of market conditions. In a Pakistan Stock Exchange filing, Nishat Chunian Limited (NCL) stated, “The company has an installed capacity of 219,528 spindles and 2,880 rotors in its spinning division. Company has decided to temporarily close 51,360 spindles …

Shares at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) fell sharply for a second day on Wednesday, with analysts citing delays in the completion of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) ninth review, the foreign exchange crisis and exchange rate instability. The benchmark KSE-100 index lost 523.48 points, or 1.32 per cent, to close at 39,279.43 points. It reached an intraday low of …

ISLAMABAD: The National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) that runs the country’s national grid has sought approval for a Rs370 billion investment plan for system expansion and loss reduction over the next three years (2023-25). In a petition to the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), the transmission system operator stated that the proposed investment was required to meet the …

“Pakistan’s economic and political situation isn’t stable right now.” We often hear statements like these every time we turn on the television, listen to the radio, or browse through social media platforms. It is important to be aware about the country’s situation, but the constant bombarding of distressing news does more harm than good. Luckily, there is a simple solution …

Oil prices rose to three-week highs on Tuesday as China’s latest easing of Covid-19 restrictions raised fuel demand hopes and concerns that winter storms across the United States are affecting energy production continued to buoy prices. Brent crude was up 88 cents, or 1.1 per cent, at $84.80 a barrel by 0253 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $80.44 …

ISLAMABAD: The government on Monday decided to use all the administrative and legal resources to recover Rs447 billion Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) from commercial and industrial entities which had blocked due payments through high courts despite standing orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan for recoveries. The decision was taken at a GIDC meeting presided over by Finance Minister …

Shares at the Pakistan Stock Exchange ended the day in the red on Tuesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 index facing resistance at the 40,000 mark, closing at 39,802.91 — down 352 points or 0.88 per cent. Fahad Rauf of Ismail Iqbal Securities said the investor sentiment was generally weak due to the delay in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme. …