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Express Tribune
an hour ago
- Business
- Express Tribune
PSX dips on monetary policy uncertainty
A stock broker reacts while monitoring the market on the electronic board displaying share prices during trading session at the Pakistan Stock Exchange, in Karachi on July 3, 2023. Photo: Reuters/ File Listen to article The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed bearish on Tuesday as investors resorted to profit-booking, pulling the benchmark KSE-100 index down by 1,415 points, or 1.02%. In the morning, the session resumed on a strong note, with the index hitting intra-day high of 140,331, up 951 points, on optimism about reports that a trade and tariff deal between Pakistan and the US was nearing finalisation. However, early momentum faded as investors opted for profit-taking and switching sectors ahead of the upcoming monetary policy meeting, where a 50-basis-point rate cut is expected. Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corp commented that stocks closed bearish over uncertainty ahead of the State Bank's policy announcement on Wednesday. Political noise, concerns over rupee movements and futures rollover pressure fuelled bearish activity at the PSX, he added. At the end of trading, the KSE-100 index recorded a decrease of 1,415.24 points, or 1.02%, and settled at 137,964.82. In its review, Topline Securities noted that bulls opened trading on a strong footing, lifting the benchmark index to an impressive intra-day high of 950 points. However, the optimism proved short-lived as heavy selling pressure took over, allowing bears to dominate proceedings. The index slipped to intra-day low of 1,743 points before closing at 137,965, cementing a decisive bearish victory, it said. Sentiment turned negative largely due to speculation surrounding Engro Fertilisers, with investors bracing for lower-than-expected earnings and dividend. The much-anticipated result, initially scheduled for Tuesday, was deferred to Wednesday morning, adding a layer of uncertainty and fuelling sell-off, Topline added. In its commentary, Arif Habib Limited (AHL) stated that the PSX saw another day where the 140,000 mark proved too heavy to hold by the close of trading. Some 23 shares rose while 76 fell on KSE-100, where Fauji Fertiliser Company (FFC, +0.75%), Ghana Glass Limited (+9.44%) and Meezan Bank (+0.83%) contributed the most to index gains. On the flip side, Engro Holdings (-3.17%), Engro Fertilisers (-5.12%) and UBL (-1.8%) were the biggest drags, it said. AHL noted that FFC announced its first-half earnings per share (EPS) of Rs27.02, an increase of 5% year-on-year, with dividend of Rs19 per share. "This beat earnings and payout expectations." Additionally, Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (+1.43%) received Letters of Intent from the Port Qasim Authority and Karachi Port Trust for jointly exploring investment opportunities to increase fleet and shipping business of the company, AHL mentioned. JS Global analyst Muhammad Hasan Ather remarked that the benchmark index's decline was driven by profit-taking as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of the State Bank's monetary policy announcement due on Wednesday. Intra-day volatility reflected investor indecision amid speculation about a potential policy rate cut. With inflation falling and a stable exchange rate, market sentiment hinges on monetary policy committee decision. A dovish policy tone could trigger renewed buying and support upbeat outlook for equities in the near term, Ather said. Overall trading volumes increased to 606.3 million shares compared with Monday's tally of 589.3 million. Traded value decreased to Rs32.7 billion as compared to Rs34.6 billion in the previous session. Shares of 484 companies were traded. Of these, 108 stocks closed higher, 350 dropped and 26 remained unchanged. Telecard Limited was the volume leader with trading in 38.7 million shares, gaining Rs0.24 to close at Rs7.84. It was followed by The Bank of Punjab with 31.9 million shares, falling Rs0.02 to close at Rs13.47 and WorldCall Telecom with 28.5 million shares, shedding Rs0.02 to close at Rs1.44. Foreign investors bought shares worth Rs14.3 million, the National Clearing Company reported.
Hans India
a day ago
- Business
- Hans India
Banks sitting on `67K-cr unclaimed deposits
New Delhi: Unclaimed deposits with banks, including private lenders, stood at Rs67,003 crore at the end of June 2025, Parliament was informed on Monday. As of June 30, 2025, public-sector banks were saddled with unclaimed deposits of Rs58,330.26 crore, while private sector had Rs8,673.72 crore, as per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Of the public-sector banks, SBI is leading the pack with unclaimed deposits of Rs19,329.92 crore, followed by Punjab National Bank Rs6,910.67 crore and Canara Bank Rs6,278.14 crore, Minister of State (MoS) for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. Among the private sector banks, ICICI Bank has the highest unclaimed deposits of Rs2,063.45 crore, followed by HDFC Bank Rs1,609.56 crore and Axis Bank Rs1,360.16 crore, he said. To enhance accessibility and simplify the search process for unclaimed deposits, RBI has launched the Centralised Web Portal UDGAM (Unclaimed Deposits- Gateway to Access Information) for public. 'As on July 1, 2025, 8,59,683 users registered and accessed UDGAM portal. The said portal facilitates the registered users to search unclaimed deposits/ amounts across multiple banks at one place in a centralized manner,' he said. With regard to utilisation of unclaimed fund, RBI has stated that as per the provisions of The Depositor Education and Awareness Fund Scheme (Scheme), 2014, there shall be a committee to administer and manage the fund in accordance with the scheme, the minister said. The fund shall be utilised for promotion of depositors' interest and for such other purposes which may be necessary for promotion of depositors' interest, as specified by RBI. Replying to another question, Chaudhary said the government has no plans of launching Exchange Trade Funds (ETFs) for respective Virtual Digital Assets (VDAs) in order to integrate them into mainstream financial market. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued advisories warning users, holders, and traders of virtual currencies or crypto assets about the potential risks, including economic, financial, operational, legal, and security concerns, he said.
Business Recorder
19-07-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
Islamabad: prices of essential kitchen items show rising trend
ISLAMABAD: The prices of essential kitchen items have witnessed an increase during this week past against the previous week owing to third successive increase in petrol and diesel prices, revealed a survey carried out by Business Recorder here on Saturday. Within the past one and half month, the government has increased the price of High Speed Diesel (HSD) oil mainly used for transportation purposes from trains to trucks, buses and trailers by Rs29 per litre and petrol mainly used by private and small vehicles by Rs19 per litre. The increase in fuel prices has played a major role in escalating the prices as transportation cost has jumped up by at least 10 per cent during the period which not only resulted in increasing the prices of daily use items but also edible items from vegetables, meat, eggs to fruits. An increase was noted in chicken prices as it went up from Rs16,000 to Rs16,400 per 40kg in the wholesale market, which in retail is being sold at Rs440 per kg and chicken meat at Rs700 per kg. Eggs' price went up from Rs7,000 to Rs7,300 per carton of 30 dozen which in retail is being sold in the range of Rs260-275 against Rs250-260 per dozen. Sugar price went down from Rs9,100 to Rs8,800 per 50kg bag in the wholesale market, while in retail it is being sold at 190 per kg. Wheat flour price remained unchanged as the best quality wheat flour ex-mill price per 15kg bag is at Rs1,100 which in retail is being sold at Rs1,150 per 15kg bag and normal quality wheat flour per 15kg bag is available at Rs1,000 which in retail is being sold at Rs1,050 per bag. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Hans India
19-07-2025
- Business
- Hans India
Consumer biz fuels RIL's Q1 net to record high
New Delhi: India's most valuable company Reliance Industries (RIL) on Friday reported its highest-ever quarterly profit of Rs26,994 crore for the April-June quarter, reflecting a growth of 78.3 per cent over the year-ago period, driven by a bumper showing of consumer businesses. The oil-to-retail-to-telecom conglomerate's consolidated net profit attributable to owners of the company stood at Rs26,994 crore or Rs19.95 per share, in April-June 2025 compared to Rs15,138 crore earnings in the year-ago period, according to an exchange filing. The net profit was also 39 per cent higher quarter-on-quarter when compared to Rs19,407 crore earnings in the preceding three months ended on March 31. RIL Chairman and Managing Director, MukeshAmbani said that Reliance has begun FY26 with a robust, all-round operational and financial performance. 'Consolidated EBITDA for the first quarter of FY26 improved strongly from a year-ago period, despite significant volatility in global macros. During the quarter, energy markets encountered heightened uncertainty, with sharp fluctuations in crude prices. Our O2C business delivered strong growth, with thrust on domestic demand fulfillment and offering value-added solutions through the Jio-bp network. Performance was supported by improvement in fuel and downstream product margins,' Ambani said. The firm helmed by billionaire MukeshAmbani continued to post an uptick in consumer businesses -- retail and telecom. While Jio was helped by a rise in consumer base, the retail business delivered steady performance due to an increase in footfalls at its expanded store network. Revenue from operations was up by 5.26 per cent to Rs2.48 lakh crore in the first quarter of 2025-26 compared to Rs2.36 lakh crore in the year-ago period. The mainstay oil refining and petrochemicals business, called O2C, posted a 1.5 per cent decline Y-o-Y due to a fall in crude oil prices and lower volumes on account of the planned shutdown. Segment revenues were supported by increased domestic placement of transportation fuels through Jio-bp, a company statement said.
Hans India
19-07-2025
- Business
- Hans India
Torrent Pharma set to be India's 2nd pharma major
New Delhi: Ahmedabad-based Torrent Pharmaceuticals has sought fair trade regulator CCI's clearance to acquire a majority stake in in JB Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals in a Rs19,500-crore the completion of the deal, Torrent Pharmaceuticals will become India's second most valued pharma company. The development came after Torrent Pharmaceuticals in June this year announced the acquisition of a majority stake in JB Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals in a Rs19,500-crore deal. 'The proposed combination relates to acquisition of shareholding by the acquirer (Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd) in the target (JB Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd) and the subsequent amalgamation of the target with the acquirer,' according to a notice filed with the Competition Commission of India (CCI). Torrent Pharmaceuticals is the flagship company of the Torrent group and is engaged in the business of manufacturing and sale of pharmaceutical formulations (FDFs) across therapeutic segments.
