Business

KARACHI: The stock market snapped its four-day winning streak as investors resorted to profit-taking following reports that the new government has begun preparations to engage the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the start of final review under the current $3bn Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) and negotiating a fresh Extended Fund Facility. The country is faced with numerous economic issues mainly the …

WASHINGTON: Bitcoin soared to a new record high on Tuesday, fuelled by investors pouring money into US spot exchange-traded crypto products and the prospect that global interest rates may fall. The world’s largest cryptocurrency hit a high of $69,202, topping November 2021’s all-time peak of $68,999.99. Investor interest has increased since the Securities and Exchange Commission approved 11 spot bitcoin …

WASHINGTON: Ama­zon founder Jeff Bezos has taken back his spot as the world’s richest man, dethroning Elon Musk on the Bloomberg Billion­aires Index. Bezos’ net worth stands at $200 billion, according to the tracker, surpassing the Tesla chief’s $198bn. Musk, who also heads X (formerly Twitter) and SpaceX, has seen his riches fall by more than $30b as Tesla’s share …

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday directed the authorities concerned to formulate proposals for reducing government expenditures and overhauling the country’s economic structure. He also directed the authorities to immediately initiate the process of complete digitisation and automation of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), which he himself would oversee. Presiding over a high-level meeting at the Prime Minister …

KARACHI: Bullish sentiments prevailed in the stock market for the fourth consecutive session on Monday, briefly propelling the KSE 100-share index above the 66,000-point level. The emerging political stability after the smooth election of Shehbaz Sharif as the 24th prime minister of Pakistan helped the market sustain its overnight bullish momentum. Topline Securities Ltd said the market extended its winning …

KARACHI: The Karachi Interbank Offered Rate (Kibor) has started to recede, reflecting both the money market’s reaction to low inflation and anticipation of an interest rate cut in the next monetary policy review. From Friday to Monday, Kibor dropped by 11 basis points (bps) for a one-year term, decreasing from 21.38 per cent to 21.27pc. This marked the most significant …

KARACHI: The overall cement despatches (domestic and export) declined by 19.22 per cent to 3.259m tonnes in February as against 4.035m tonnes in the same month last year due to few working days and holidays for general elections. According to the data released by All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), local cement sales during February were 2.863m tonnes as compared …

ISLAMABAD: Following in the footsteps of power companies, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has decided in principle to increase by at least 100 per cent its annual and one-time registration fee for all its licensees like those dealing in generation, distribution, transmission, trading, operators and suppliers. At the same time, Nepra is also seeking the imposition of an …

KARACHI: Two Pakis­tani businesswomen have been recognised by Forbes in its ‘100 Most Powerful Businesswomen 2024’ list. The two women on the list are former Unilever Pakistan CEO Shazia Syed and PureHealth co-founder Shaista Asif. The criteria cited by Forbes in the compilation of the list included the leaders’ tangible impact on the region and the market that she serves, alongside their respective achievements and performance …

Shazia Syed, the former CEO of Unilever Pakistan, has been named in a Forbes list again — this time for the 100 Most Powerful Businesswomen 2024. She, who is currently the general manager for Unilever’s operations in North Africa, Iraq, Levant, and Arabia, had previously been recognised as one of the top executives in the Middle East in 2023. Emerging from Abbottabad, Syed embarked …