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Category: 3. Business

  • Asian stocks set for strongest annual jump in eight years on AI bets

    SINGAPORE: Asian stocks drifted on the last trading day of a year that has seen investors brush off much of the tariff-related uncertainty and embrace AI chip stocks, while the dollar’s dismal year has left the euro and sterling standing tall.

    Precious metals have grabbed much of the spotlight toward the end of the year, with silver’s astonishing rally taking its yearly gains to more than 160% although the metal was 1% lower on Wednesday as traders booked profits.

    Gold firmed a bit and is on track for a 66% surge in 2025 as the three-year rally shows no signs of stopping.

    Japanese markets are closed for the rest of the week, and with most markets closed on Thursday for the New Year’s Day holiday, volumes are likely to be thin and moves muted.

    MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.17% lower on Wednesday as investors weighed the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s December meeting that underscored deep divisions among policymakers about U.S. rates. The index is poised to clock a 27% increase for the year, its sharpest rise since 2017, mainly on a strong rally in chipmakers amid the boom in artificial intelligence-related stocks.

    China’s blue-chip index inched higher, on course for an 18% increase for the year while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.7% but was looking to clock a 28% gain for 2025 as investors shrugged off trade war worries.

    South Korea’s Kospi is the best performing major stock market in the world, rising 76% in the year, with a lot of those gains coming from SK Hynix and Samsung.

    “Notwithstanding a few little shocks, the year has been terrific for investment returns,” said Kyle Rodda, senior financial analyst at Capital.com.

    “The gains have been a little concentrated obviously but the combination of the AI boom and accommodative monetary and fiscal settings have driven risk assets higher and around record levels.”

    Markets have weathered a year of tariff wars, the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, roiling geopolitical strife as well as threats to central bank independence and yet eked out strong gains across the globe.

    “Heading into 2026, AI is still the anchor theme, but in a different phase: less hype, more adoption and return on investment scrutiny,” said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo in Singapore.

    “The biggest risks are an unwinding of crowded positioning in both AI and precious metals,” Chanana said.

    “Add to that a market that’s too confident about a smooth rate path, and the real economic impacts of tariffs that weren’t fully evident in 2025 starting to show up in 2026, repricing inflation expectations and profit margins quickly.”

    Investor focus next year will also be on the Fed’s rate path after the central bank earlier this month projected just one rate cut, while traders are pricing in at least two more cuts.

    The minutes of the December meeting underscored the challenge facing the policymakers and markets. “Most participants” ultimately supported a cut earlier this month with “some” arguing that it was an appropriate forward-looking strategy “that would help stabilize the labor market” after a recent slowdown in job creation.

    Cash Treasuries were untraded due to the holiday in Japan, while Treasury futures were little moved. Yields on 10-year notes stood at 4.1258% on Monday, having dropped 45 basis points this year.

    In currencies, the dollar held its ground on Wednesday but was headed for a 9.4% decline for the year, its biggest drop since 2017, leaving the euro and sterling with strong yearly gains.

    Oil prices slipped more than 10% in 2025, with Brent heading for its longest stretch of annual losses ever, as supply outpaced demand in a year marked by wars, higher tariffs and OPEC+ output and sanctions on Russia, Iran and Venezuela.


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  • End of comfort for auto giants

    End of comfort for auto giants


    KARACHI:

    The year 2025 finally delivered a long-awaited wave of locally assembled vehicles in Pakistan, spanning hybrids, SUVs, pickups, and electric models, following a series of government policy interventions aimed at revitalising the auto sector.

    While the expanded lineup has brought greater choice, improved technology, and renewed competition, the benefits have so far remained concentrated in the higher-income segment. Affordable options for middle- and lower-income buyers remain largely absent, raising concerns that the current progress has yet to meaningfully trickle down to the broader segments of society, limiting the inclusive impact of the industry’s recovery.

    According to Mashood Ali Khan, an auto industry expert, the sector operated in a paradoxical environment throughout the year. “While sales recovered and consumer interest returned, deep structural weaknesses persisted,” he said, citing policy uncertainty, high taxation, rising used car imports, and weak localisation as major constraints.

    He noted that frequent changes in duties and regulations continued to discourage long-term investment in capacity expansion and technology transfer.

    Despite these challenges, 2025 saw a visible rebound in volumes, he said. Passenger car production increased sharply, motorcycles recorded one of their strongest years, and trucks and buses nearly doubled in output. Lower interest rates, improved auto financing, and a flurry of new model launches supported demand recovery, particularly in the second half of the year.

    However, the defining feature of 2025 was market fragmentation. Brands such as Haval, Changan, Chery (Jaecoo-Omoda), BYD, Hyundai, Kia, and MG aggressively expanded their locally assembled portfolios, particularly in SUVs, crossovers, and electrified vehicles. This influx diluted market share across segments that were once dominated by Suzuki, Toyota, and Honda. “The competition is extremely tough now,” said Daniyal Ilyas Gaba, Senior Sales Manager at Kia Motors, Clifton. “People’s purchasing power has declined, banks are restricting financing above certain price thresholds, and documentation requirements have increased. At the same time, there are far more options in the market, so demand is divided.”

    To defend market share, manufacturers resorted to aggressive pricing strategies. Several brands cut prices by Rs1-1.6 million on popular models during the year. According to industry insiders, these cuts were driven by competitive necessity rather than margin expansion.

    Alongside price reductions, interest-free and zero-markup installment plans emerged as a defining trend. As the policy rate declined, banks, non-bank lenders, and manufacturers competed aggressively on financing. In many cases, OEMs and dealers subsidised markups to stimulate demand. Notably, such offers extended beyond entry-level vehicles to SUVs, fundamentally altering consumer behaviour. Shafiq Ahmed Shaikh, an expert on Pakistan’s automobile industry, described 2025 as “a year of recovery and reset.” He noted that the industry transitioned from a production-driven market to a consumer-driven one due to tariff rationalisation linked to IMF-supported reforms under the National Tariff Policy (2025-30). “Prices corrected downwards, financing innovation reshaped demand, and competition intensified across all segments,” he said.

    However, Shaikh cautioned that the recovery represented normalisation rather than a boom, with sales still below historical peaks. He also pointed out that the Automotive Industry Development and Export Policy (AIDEP) 2021-26 had been diluted in practice. “Export targets were largely unmet, and localisation progress remained limited,” he said, adding that the upcoming Auto Policy 2026-31 would further challenge manufacturers by prioritising lower tariffs and competition. Electrification emerged as another major theme. Government incentives under the EV Policy, coupled with rising fuel costs, supported growing interest in electric two-wheelers and hybrid vehicles. Yet concerns remain over unchecked SKD and CKD assembly without meaningful localisation.

    From the two-wheeler segment, Managing Director of Eiffel Industries Ltd (Yadea Pakistan), Muhammad Salman, said 2025 demonstrated that EVs, particularly electric scooters, are “here to stay.” He noted robust growth compared to 2024, with consumers increasingly shifting from ride-hailing and conventional motorcycles to personal electric mobility due to lower running costs. Eiffel Industries expanded its footprint to 42 3S dealerships nationwide. However, he acknowledged that limited disposable incomes and the absence of widespread charging infrastructure continue to slow mass adoption. “Most customers rely on home charging, but infrastructure remains a chicken-and-egg problem,” he said.

    Despite visible progress, affordability is a key concern. Most new entrants focused on higher-income buyers, leaving middle- and lower-income segments underserved. Rising energy costs, high GST on small cars, and increased used car imports further complicated the outlook for local manufacturers and vendors. According to Mashood Ali Khan, the industry spent much of 2025 in “survival mode,” balancing fragmented demand, cost pressures, and policy uncertainty. Still, he believes the competitive shift could strengthen the sector, if supported by consistent long-term policies, genuine localisation, export development, and technology upgrading.

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  • Hydel power stations generated 33b units

    Hydel power stations generated 33b units

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    ISLAMABAD’:

    The outgoing calendar year 2025 proved to be satisfactory for hydroelectric power and water sectors as the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) contributed high quantities of clean, green and low-cost hydel electricity to the national grid.

    It also achieved several key targets for the under-construction mega projects despite a diverse environment and serious challenges.

    According to a statement issued on Tuesday, Wapda’s 22 hydel power stations cumulatively generated 33.12 billion units in 2025, which constituted about 30% of the total electricity production.

    Hydel electricity with a tariff of just Rs3.83 per unit kept on subsidising the country’s entire power sector in the outgoing year too, thus significantly contributing to economic stability and social development, it said.

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  • A novel deep learning approach for intrusion detection in maritime radar networks

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  • Promise of bumper coffee crop in 2026 fuelled by explosion of white flowers

    Promise of bumper coffee crop in 2026 fuelled by explosion of white flowers

    Australian coffee growers are hoping for a bumper 2026 season to meet increased demand for homegrown beans.

    Fuelling that hope was the explosion of white, star-like flowers that covered coffee bushes across the country during their November flowering season.

    Coffee farms are transformed into a sea of white as the trees burst with star-like white flowers. (ABC Rural: Kim Honan)

    Australian Grown Coffee Association president Rebecca Zentveld said it was the best flowering in six years at her farm in Newrybar near Byron Bay.

    Ms Zentveld said the positive signs for the crop in 2026 were welcome after a smaller-than-expected harvest this year.

    A woman in a blue dress pulls apart coffee tree branches with white flowers.

    Rebecca Zentveld checks the flowering on her coffee trees. (ABC Rural: Kim Honan)

    Poor weather in coffee-growing countries, including Brazil and Vietnam, in recent years, has meant Australian growers have been well-placed to fill the gap.

    Beautiful blossoming

    Coffee plants are known for their short flowering season, generally lasting just two days.

    “That tiny little bud of the next fruit starts to grow for the next eleven months,” Ms Zentveld said.

    A red and a green coffee cherry on a branch with white blossoms.

    Coffee cherries left from the 2025 harvest among the blossoms. (ABC Rural: Kim Honan)

    “Not every flower will turn into a little fruit; we will allow some to drop and accept that, and it’s a really good start.”

    The flowers present not only a visual sensation on farms. The short-lived blossoming offers a multi-sensory experience for growers and visitors.

    A honey bee on a white coffee blossom.

    A European honey bee prepares to collect nectar from the white blossom of a coffee cherry. (ABC Rural: Kim Honan)

    A honey bee with orange pollen sacs flies over white coffee flowers.

    A honey bee with pollen baskets hovers over coffee blossoms. (ABC Rural: Kim Honan)

    A honey bee collects nectar from a white coffee blossom.

    Bees are kept busy collecting nectar and pollinating the coffee cherries. (ABC Rural: Kim Honan)

    The bees are busy buzzing about collecting nectar from the blossoms, which have a sweet jasmine-like smell that even wafts beyond the farm fence.

    “They’re going crazy, often what we do is hear the bees first, the hum, they will be out in force,” Ms Zentveld said.

    “We’ve had people drive past with their windows down and come in on the day that the blossoms are out because they could smell them in the air.”

    Rebecca Zentveld with a tour group around a coffee tree with white flowers.

    Rebecca Zentveld and a tour group stop to smell the coffee flowers. (ABC Rural: Kim Honan)

    Rebecca Zentveld and a tour group stop to smell the coffee flowers. (ABC Rural: Kim Honan)

    A sign inviting visitors to come smell the coffee blossoms.

    A welcome sign at Zentveld’s Coffee Farm & Roastery at Newrybar. (ABC Rural: Kim Honan)

    Welcome sign at Zentveld’s Coffee Farm & Roastery at Newrybar. (ABC Rural: Kim Honan)

    A lady takes a photo of a man and woman in front of coffee trees with white blossoms.

    Rebecca Zentveld snaps a photo of some visitors to the farm with the coffee blossoms.  (ABC Rural: Kim Honan)

    Rebecca Zentveld snaps a photo of some visitors to the farm with the coffee blossoms. (ABC Rural: Kim Honan)

    “It is just marvellous, just extraordinary.”

    Small variety with big potential

    Growers at the Zentveld farm are particularly excited by the amount of blossoms on a new coffee variety that is being trialled there.

    Ms Zentveld said one of the dwarf varieties, Marsellesa, had put out more flowers than her Kenyan K7 trees.

    A lady in a blue dress stands between two coffee trees with white flowers on them.

    Rebecca Zentveld with the Marsellesa coffee tree.  (ABC Rural: Kim Honan)

    “The blossoms are bigger than the two main varieties we grow in Australia,” she said.

    “So that’s going to be interesting to see if that equates to overall big-sized fruit or coffee bean.”

    Marsellesa, a hybrid of Sarchimor and Caturra developed in Nicaragua, is a high-yielding, rust-resistant variety that researchers believe could be better suited for Australian conditions than the Kenyan K7.

    White coffee blossoms on a tree branch.

    White blossoms on the Marsellesa coffee variety. (ABC Rural: Kim Honan)

    Coffee converts

    Ms Zentveld said speciality coffee roasters were crying out for locally grown beans.

    “They’re willing to pay the money for it, which is a wonderful thing to keep our growers going and profitable. That’s what we want,” she said.

    That growing demand has seen the industry expand further within NSW and Queensland and into Western Australia.

    A wallaby stands next to a coffee tree with white blossoms.

    A wallaby among the coffee trees. (Supplied: Kim Honan)

    Ms Zentveld said fruit and nut farmers in particular were turning to coffee due to issues within their industries, including local processor closures.

    “We’re now getting quite a few professional farmers who may have been growing macadamias, growing citrus and avocados in Western Australia, sugarcane and peanuts in North Queensland,” she said.

    She said the industry would benefit from these professionals putting coffee in on scale.

    A branch with five red coffee cherries and white coffee blossoms.

    Coffee cherries hang on from the 2025 season during flowering for the 2026 crop.  (ABC Rural: Kim Honan)

    She said the industry had solid long-term prospects as it moved beyond just import replacement and into export markets.

    “They do the maths, and work out that this is a crop that’s in demand and should be profitable.”

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  • Stocks soar past 174,000 on strong growth data – Dawn

    1. Stocks soar past 174,000 on strong growth data  Dawn
    2. Records tumble: KSE-100 settles with nearly 600 points gain  Business Recorder
    3. PSX maintains record-setting rally  The Express Tribune
    4. Stock market gains 1,495 points to close at 173,896  The Nation (Pakistan )
    5. PSX Settles At New All-Time High on UAE’s Billion-Dollar Investment News  ProPakistani

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  • Stocks soar past 174,000 on strong growth data – Dawn

    1. Stocks soar past 174,000 on strong growth data  Dawn
    2. KSE-100 crosses 175,000 level in early trade  Business Recorder
    3. PSX maintains record-setting rally  The Express Tribune
    4. PSX crosses 174,400 points as investor confidence strengthens  Daily Times
    5. PSX gains 576 points to close at 174,472  The Nation (Pakistan )

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  • Retail payment transactions rise 10pc to 2.8bn – Dawn

    1. Retail payment transactions rise 10pc to 2.8bn  Dawn
    2. Digital payments hit 2.8b transactions in Q1FY26: SBP  The Express Tribune
    3. 81% of All Digital Transactions in Pakistan Are Done Using Mobiles  ProPakistani
    4. Jul-Sept retail payments: Total value soars 6pc to Rs166trn QoQ  Business Recorder
    5. Mobile app transactions drive 10% growth in retail payments  Daily Times

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  • UK company sends factory with 1,000C furnace into space

    UK company sends factory with 1,000C furnace into space

    The team is now planning to build a bigger space factory – one that could make semiconductor material for 10,000 chips.

    They also need to test the technology to bring the material back to Earth.

    On a future mission, a heat shield named Pridwen after the legendary shield of King Arthur will be deployed to protect the spacecraft from the intense temperatures it will experience as it re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere.

    Other companies are also looking skywards – to make everything from pharmaceuticals to artificial tissues.

    “In-space manufacturing is something that is happening now,” says Libby Jackson, head of space at the Science Museum.

    “It’s the early days and they’re still showing this in small numbers at the moment.

    “But by proving the technology it really opens the door for an economically viable product, where things can be made in space and return to Earth and have use and benefit to everybody on Earth. And that’s really exciting.”

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  • Emory radiologic technology program endures for six decades

    Emory radiologic technology program endures for six decades

    Emory Decatur Hospital is home to one of Emory’s longest-running clinical educational programs — the Emory School of Medicine Radiologic Technology (RT) Certificate Program. Founded in 1962, the certificate program prepares entry-level radiologic technologists to fill high-demand jobs and meet the critical clinical imaging needs of the greater Atlanta community.

    The RT Certificate Program is part of the allied health program offerings through the Emory School of Medicine. Emory Decatur Hospital serves as the off-campus instructional site for the program.

    Radiologic technology involves using X-rays or radioactive substances for medical diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Those who use the technology are known as radiologic technologists, or radiographers. They specialize in using X-rays to create images of the body and perform diagnostic procedures including imaging the skeletal system, chest and abdomen.

    The Emory School of Medicine Radiologic Technology Certificate Program is a full-time, 24-month long program that accepts between 19 and 25 students each year, with space for up to 50 total. Students train in areas such as general X-ray, trauma imaging and fluoroscopy, and also rotate through specialty areas such as CT (computed tomography), MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and mammography to enhance their clinical education experience.

    “The Emory School of Medicine Radiologic Technology Certificate Program has been a leader in imaging education on a continuous basis for over 60 years,” says Jen Schuck, CEO of Emory Decatur, Emory Hillandale and Emory Long-Term Acute Care hospitals. “I’m proud that the program is a leader in creating career opportunities for people in our community and ensuring that graduates are well-prepared to make a real impact in health care.”

    Program graduates take the national certification exam for radiography through the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists and upon passing, become registered technologists in radiography. About 70% of graduates accept jobs at Emory Healthcare within a year of finishing the program. To date, approximately 1,100 have graduated from the program.

    “From the start, our students are placed in fast-paced health care settings where they use advanced equipment, care for patients from all backgrounds and learn to adapt to the changing needs of the medical field,” says LaShaun Taylor, RTR, program director. “By operating at Emory Decatur Hospital, our program students get hands-on training in a busy medical imaging department, giving graduates an advantage when pursuing their careers.”

    The Emory School of Medicine Radiologic Technology Certificate Program has maintained a strong track record of placing graduates in jobs and establishing collaborations to help elevate career advancement. While the program requires participants to hold, at a minimum, an associate degree before beginning the Emory program, it is currently exploring new opportunities to assist students in earning an associate’s degree. The program is also building stronger connections with Emory’s Medical Imaging B.S. Bridge Program as a pathway for program graduates to earn a bachelor’s degree to help advance future career opportunities.

    Applications are accepted each year from Sept.1 to March 1. To learn more, visit the Emory School of Medicine Radiologic Technology Certificate Program website.

    About Emory Decatur Hospital
    Emory Decatur Hospital, one of 11 Emory Healthcare hospitals, is a 451-bed facility located on North Decatur Road in Decatur, Georgia. Emory University School of Medicine faculty, private practice physicians and Emory Specialty Associates physicians care for patients at Emory Decatur, along with more than 2,500 staff. Services include emergency medicine, oncology, heart and vascular care including stroke, maternity care, orthopaedics, behavioral health, a weight loss center and a medical fitness center, among others.

    About Emory School of Medicine Education Programs
    Emory School of Medicine prepares future health care leaders through innovative education programs, including MD, DPT, PhD, and allied health degrees, as well as residencies, fellowships and continuing education. With a focus on excellence, compassion and discovery, Emory combines the science of medicine with the art of healing to advance patient care and medical research. Learn more at med.emory.edu/education.

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