News

PSX scales 130,000 barrier as market climbs by 2,100 points

Bulls continued their reign over the trading floor at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday as shares scaled the 130,000-point barrier to reach a new high after climbing by 2,100 points. The benchmark KSE-100 index opened on a positive note, rising by 1,430.07 points (1.12 per cent) to reach 129,629.49 points at 10:07am, from the previous close of 128,199.42 points. Shares then rose

Is the textile sector recovering?

Pakistan’s large-scale manufacturing (LSM) sector continued to face headwinds in first ten months of this fiscal year (July 2024–April 2025), contracting by 1.52 per cent year-on-year, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). The decline reflects ongoing challenges in key industries such as food, chemicals, iron and steel. However, textile manufacturing — the largest component of L

Govt cuts profit rates on savings schemes

The government on Wednesday reduced profit rates on all national savings schemes — except the regular savings account — including Sharia-compliant instruments, in line with a broa­der easing of interest rates. The savings account remains the only instrument with an unchanged profit rate of 9.5pc. The revised rates follow a decline in cut-off yields on government papers (such as T-bills) and

Tribunal dismisses Strepsils appeal

The Competition Ap­­pe­l­late Tribunal has dismissed an appeal filed by Reckitt Benckiser in the Strepsils case due to non-prosecution, as the company’s counsel failed to appear, citing travel abroad — the same reason presented at the previous hearing. The tribunal rejected the adjournment request and noted that a fine of Rs50,000 had earlier been imposed on the counsel for failing to appear. W

Collection of sales tax via PoS machines surges 40pc

Sales tax collection through the Point-of-Sale (PoS) system surged by 40 per cent in FY25, reaching Rs414 billion compared to Rs295bn in the previous year, reflecting a significant improvement in the documentation of retail sales. The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) stated that the PoS system is helping to bring luxury retail items and affluent consumers into the tax net by targeting Tier-1 reta