Author: admin

KARACHI:

Pakistan’s latest government securities auctions attracted strong investor interest on Wednesday, with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) raising a total of Rs1.09 trillion through treasury bills and Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIB) Floaters, while cut-off yields declined across all T-bill tenors.

In the treasury bills auction, the government accepted Rs979 billion against a cumulative target of Rs850 billion, whereas total bids amounted to Rs2.56 trillion.

The government accepted Rs87 billion for one-month T-bills at a cut-off yield of 10.20%, marking a decline of 29 basis points from the previous auction. In the three-month tenor, Rs80 billion was accepted against bids of Rs521 billion, with the cut-off yield easing 34 basis points to 10.15%.

The six-month paper saw acceptance of Rs52 billion out of bids worth Rs404 billion as the cut-off yield fell 32 basis points to 10.16%. The bulk of the auction was concentrated in 12-month papers, where the government raised Rs761 billion against bids of Rs1.38 trillion at a cut-off yield of 10.16%, down 33 basis points from the previous auction.

Weighted average yields were largely in line with the cut-off yields, indicating consistent bidding across tenors.

Meanwhile, in the 10-year Pakistan Investment Bonds (Floating Rate – Semi-Annual) auction, the government accepted Rs108 billion against a target of Rs50 billion, while total bids stood at Rs758 billion. The cut-off price was set at 97.20, translating into a cut-off rate of 10.93%. The spread over the benchmark narrowed to 47 basis points, compared with 63 basis points in the previous auction.

Furthermore, the Pakistani rupee edged up slightly against the US dollar on Wednesday, closing at 280.06 in the inter-bank market compared to 280.07 a day earlier.

Meanwhile, gold prices in Pakistan fell, following international market losses as investors booked profits after a recent rally amid mixed global economic signals. Locally, gold per tola dropped by Rs1,200 to Rs466,762, while 10-gram rate fell by Rs1,028 to Rs400,173, according to the All-Pakistan Gems and Jewellers Sarafa Association.

A day earlier, gold had surged by Rs3,200 per tola, reflecting volatility driven by global price movements. Silver, however, remained stable at Rs8,361 per tola.

Internationally, gold slipped over 1% as profit-taking intensified, though weaker-than-expected US private payroll data bolstered expectations of potential Federal Reserve rate cuts. Spot gold touched $4,445 per ounce, up from an earlier low of $4,422. Analysts noted the market remained range bound, with $4,500 and $4,423 being high and low levels, respectively.

Adnan Agar of Interactive Commodities highlighted that Friday’s US non-farm payroll data could trigger significant price movements, while silver pulled back from recent highs near $82 to around $77.

The IWF’s Ngaire Alexander told the BBC tools like Grok now risked “bringing sexual AI imagery of children into the mainstream”.

He said the material would be classified as Category C under UK law – the lowest severity of criminal material.

But he said the user who uploaded it had then used a different AI tool, not made by xAI, to create a Category A image – the most serious category.

“We are extremely concerned about the ease and speed with which people can apparently generate photo-realistic child sexual abuse material (CSAM),” he said.

The charity, which aims to remove child sexual abuse material, external from the internet, operates a hotline where suspected CSAM can be reported, and employs analysts who assess the legality and severity of that material.

Its analysts found the material by on the dark web – the images were not found on the social media platform X.

X and xAI were previously contacted by Ofcom, following reports Grok can be used to make “sexualised images of children” and undress women.

The BBC has seen several examples on the social media platform X of people asking the chatbot to alter real images to make women appear in bikinis without their consent, as well as putting them in sexual situations.

The IWF said it had received reports of such images on X, however these had not so far been assessed to have met the legal definition of CSAM.

In a previous statement, X said: “We take action against illegal content on X, including CSAM, by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary.

“Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.”