Business

OpenAI’s ChatGPT experienced a brief yet significant outage on Friday, affecting over 19,000 users for around 30 minutes. Despite the disruption, OpenAI quickly restored service by 5 pm PT (0100 GMT) with users regaining access within minutes. CEO Sam Altman took to X (formerly Twitter) to apologize for the downtime, acknowledging the inconvenience and reassuring users of the platform’s full …

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) has soared to new heights, with the KSE-100 Index reaching a record high of 91,916 points. This remarkable increase reflects optimism in the market, largely driven by expectations that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) will announce a significant rate cut soon. KSE-100 Index Climbs to All-Time High On Monday, the KSE-100 Index surged by …

Zarea Limited’s IPO: A Major Step Towards Digital Transformation Zarea Limited (ZL), a business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce platform, applied for listing on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday. The company aims to raise at least Rs1 billion through an initial public offering (IPO) of 62.50 million shares, priced at a minimum of Rs16 per share. This offering is open to …

KSE-100 Index Hits New Record at PSX The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued its upward momentum on Wednesday, with the KSE-100 Index surpassing 87,000 points for the first time. The index closed at an all-time high of 87,194.53 points, marking a gain of 727.96 points or 0.84%. During the day, the index touched a record intra-day high of 87,309.22 points, …

Oil Industry Concerns Over Restrictive Pricing The oil industry in Pakistan has raised serious concerns over the restrictive pricing of motor fuels, which has reportedly caused significant financial losses. The Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC), representing refineries and oil marketing companies (OMCs), expressed these concerns in a letter to the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) chairman. The council warned …

Pakistan’s Forex Reserves Reach $11 Billion After 30-Month Gap Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves, held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), rose to over $11 billion as of October 11, 2024. This marks an increase of $215 million in a week and a significant milestone after 30 months. The reserves have grown for 12 consecutive weeks, reflecting an overall increase …

Chinese Firm Pledges $1 Billion for PRL Upgradation A Chinese investment corporation has agreed to invest $1 billion in Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL) to support its upgradation project. This move will significantly enhance the refinery’s production capacity, boosting it from 50,000 barrels per day to 100,000 barrels per day. However, the Chinese firm has placed a strict condition on the …

HBL Reports PKR 14.5bn Profit for 3QCY24 with Strong Non-Funded Income Growth Habib Bank Limited (HBL) reported earnings of PKR 14.5 billion (EPS: PKR 9.85) for the third quarter of 2024 (3QCY24), reflecting a year-on-year (YoY) decline of 13% but a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) increase of 1%. For the first nine months of 2024 (9MCY24), the bank’s total earnings reached PKR …

PSX Gains 578 Points as Political Tensions Ease and Corporate Earnings Shine The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw a sharp rebound on Tuesday, advancing by over 550 points driven by a surge in blue-chip stocks and renewed investor confidence during the corporate earnings season. The KSE-100 index initially dipped to an intra-day low of 84,856.21 points, reflecting losses from the …

Banks Face Rs197 Billion Additional Tax for Lending to Government A tax advisory firm, Tola Associates, has projected that banks in Pakistan will face an additional income tax burden of Rs197 billion due to excessive lending to the federal government. This tax will be imposed on 27 banks—both domestic and foreign—that have significant operations in the country. Additional Tax Due …