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Stocks extend rally on Gulf breakthrough hopes, oil near two-month lows

Asian stocks joined a global rally on Friday on hopes a Middle East peace deal may finally ​materialise, while the dollar and bond yields dropped and oil prices fell to two-month lows, tempering inflation fears. All eyes are on the ‌hotly-awaited market debut of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which has made history with the biggest-ever initial public offering. The IPO raised a record $75 billion, valuing

Economic Survey: Pakistan’s unemployment rose to 7.1%

Pakistan’s unemployment rate rose to 7.1% in 2024-25, up from 6.3% a year earlier, even as the country’s economy returned to growth, according to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2025-26 released by the Finance Ministry on Thursday. According to the latest Labour Force Survey 2024-25, released in the Economic Survey 2025-26, the working-age population increased from 159.8 million to 179.6 million,

Banking sector shows steady performance

The banking sector of Pakistan has demonstrated steady performance with key financial soundness indicators pointing to stability in capital adequacy, earnings, and asset quality. Economic Survey of Pakistan for the year 2025-26 also highlighted that the financial sector has maintained resilience amid broader economic pressures, underscoring gradual improvements in overall banking sector fundame

Pakistan to announce FY2026-27 budget today

Pakistan’s budget for the next financial year 2026-27 will be presented today (Friday) at National Assembly. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb will present the budget. The government had earlier indicated that the budget would be presented on June 10 after revising the schedule from its initial plan. The upcoming budget is expected to outline the government’s fiscal priorities, revenue me

IT exports fetch USD3.38bn in July-March

Pakistan’s IT sector emerged as a key source of foreign exchange in FY2026, with ICT export remittances increasing by 19.7 percent to USD 3.38 billion during July-March, compared with USD 2.83 billion in the same period last year, according to the Economic Survey of Pakistan 2025-26 released on Thursday. The country also formally moved toward the 5G era through a spectrum auction worth around U