Category: 3. Business

• Bloomberg ranks Pakistan best performer in two-year gains.
• Pakistan outperforms India, China in regional market standings.
• Moody’s upgrade, reforms bolster Pakistan’s equity momentum.

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Pakistan has claimed the top spot globally for equity market performance in US dollar terms over the past year, a standout economic achievement, The News reported.

India, meanwhile, has slipped behind regional and emerging market peers as tariff hikes triggered sector-wide sell-offs, foreign investor withdrawals and weaker market confidence. The Sensex delivered only a 3.2% return in USD during FY25, far short of Pakistan’s strong gains.

If the Alaska summit falters, US President Donald Trump vows to further intensify tariffs beyond 50%, which could slow India’s real GDP by 0.3-0.6 percentage points. 

This would heighten export losses, particularly in textiles and apparel, widening trade imbalances and straining weaker export-oriented sectors. The risks to employment and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) viability would also increase.

“Pakistan’s equity market indeed led globally in USD terms, especially when considering the two-year cumulative returns. During fiscal year 2024-25 (FY25), Pakistan’s benchmark KSE-100 Index delivered a 55.5% return in US dollar terms and 58.6% in Pakistani rupee terms,” the bourse experts said while quoting fact-based data.

Pakistan ranked third globally behind Ghana and Slovenia and was eighth-best in FY25 alone, according to Bloomberg — as a single year’s performance. But over the two-year period (FY24 and FY25), Pakistan emerged as the world’s best-performing equity market in USD terms.

“So yes, especially looking at the two-year cumulative picture, Pakistan did top the global charts in USD terms,” they said.

Pakistan’s performance outpaced many markets, including India’s. For FY25, Pakistan significantly outperformed India’s BSE Sensex, which returned just 3.2%, as per AHL data.

In Asia, the KSE-100 beat regional markets like China (+14.8%) and India (+6%) in terms of returns. Indian markets have been under pressure due to concerns like tariffs, foreign investor outflows and slowing earnings, leading to multi-week losing streaks and cautious sentiment.

India performed modestly and faced headwinds in 2025 — and trailed Pakistan in USD-based equity performance.

India, while underperforming and showing signs of stress, was not necessarily at its lowest ebb. Domestic investment and some forward-looking optimism suggest there’s still potential for recovery.

According to Indian newspapers, when India’s export tariffs began increasing — from 25% initially to a total of 50%—Indian equity markets reacted sharply. On August 7, 2025, Sensex fell 492 points ( 0.61%) and Nifty dropped 156 points ( 0.64%).

Later that day, Sensex slid 671 points ( 0.84%) to 79,867, and Nifty declined 208 points ( 0.85%) to 24,362 — with all sectors in the red. Moody’s warned that the tariff hike could derail India’s manufacturing ambitions, hurt its ability to attract investments, and weigh on growth—citing over $900 million in FII outflows in August alone, after $2 billion in July. Sensex and Nifty dropped ~2.9% in July.

However, amid US support during tariff tensions, on July 31, following Trump’s announcement of increased tariffs on Indian goods, Pakistan’s equity market rallied as the KSE-100 rose by about 1.3% (roughly 1,800 points). This was driven by investor optimism around a US pledge to help develop Pakistan’s massive oil reserves.

The latest credible analysis indicates potential economic losses India may face if the Alaska summit between Trump and Putin fails — leading to further US tariff escalation against India (already at 50%) — along with broader economic implications.

Moody’s Ratings warns that the 50% tariffs could slow India’s real GDP growth by around 0.3 percentage points, reducing forecasts from ~6.3% for FY2025–26. Barclays estimates slightly smaller effects: a 30 basis point (0.3 percentage point) drag on GDP growth, highlighting the economy’s resilience due to its strong domestic demand. Other economic studies suggest national GDP could be reduced between 0.1% to 0.6%, depending on the duration and breadth of the tariff measures.

Tariffs now affect 55% of US-bound Indian shipments, hitting vital export sectors like textiles, jewelry, apparel and footwear. This could lead to up to 70% reductions in these goods’ competitiveness in the US market.

The apparel sector alone could lose around $5 billion over seven months in export revenues.

Analysts warn that labor-intensive manufacturing and MSMEs will be especially vulnerable — potentially leading to job losses, weakened foreign exchange inflows and dampened investor sentiment. 

India’s merchandise trade deficit rose to an eight-month high of $27.35 billion in July 2025, ahead of tariff enforcement—signaling rising import bills and sluggish export growth.

Shares in Intel have jumped 7.4% after it was reported that the Trump administration is considering taking a stake in the struggling US chipmaker.

The potential investment, which would be paid for by the US government, would be used to develop Intel’s factory hub in Ohio, according to Bloomberg. It would also help shore up the chipmaker’s finances at a time when Intel has been slashing jobs as part of a wider cost-cutting drive.

Talks over the potential investment stem from a meeting that took place between the US president, Donald Trump, and the Intel chief executive, Lip-Bu Tan, this week, days after Trump called for Tan to resign, accusing him of having ties to the Chinese Communist party. Bloomberg suggested Tan was likely to stay in charge of the chipmaker.

Commenting on the Bloomberg report, the White House spokesperson Kush Desai said: “Discussion about hypothetical deals should be regarded as speculation unless officially announced by the administration.”

However, the news still sparked excitement among investors, with shares rising as much as 8.9% on Thursday before closing 7.4% higher at the end of trading at $23.86 (£17.60). That pushed the company’s market value to $104.4bn.

A stake in Intel would mark the Trump administration’s latest attempt to intervene in key private industry. He has repeatedly threatened to impose tariffs of up to 100% on imported semiconductors and chips, which could favour Intel as a US-based semiconductor firm.

Earlier this week, the US government announced a deal that would result in the chipmakers Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices paying 15% of their revenues from Chinese AI chip sales to the US government. Last month, the defence department also announced it would take a $400m preferred stake in the US rare earth producer MP Materials.

However, an investment in Intel would mark a U-turn from Trump’s recent aggressive rhetoric against the company’s leadership.

Trump took to the Truth Social media platform on Thursday last week to allege: “The CEO of Intel is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately. There is no other solution to this problem. Thank you for your attention to this problem!”

Trump’s social media outburst came shortly after the US Republican senator Tom Cotton wrote a letter to the Intel chair, Frank Yeary, over Tan’s investments and ties to semiconductor companies that are reportedly linked to the CCP and the People’s Liberation Army, the party’s military arm.

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In April, Reuters reported that Tan had invested in hundreds of Chinese tech firms, including at least eight with links to the People’s Liberation Army.

Cotton asked Intel’s board if Tan had dumped his investments, and questioned Tan’s previous leadership of Cadence Design Systems, a company that last month said it had sold products to China’s National University of Defense Technology in violation of US export controls.

Intel said at the time its board and CEO were “deeply committed to advancing US national and economic security interests and are making significant investments aligned with the president’s America First agenda. Intel has been manufacturing in America for 56 years,” the statement said, adding that the company looked forward to its “continued engagement with the administration”.

Intel was approached for comment.

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has fixed a transaction limit of Rs. 200,000 for cash-based payments for e-commerce Cash on Delivery (CoD) orders.

The announcement was made through Circular No. 02 of 2025-26 (Income Tax), dated August 12, 2025, as part of the government’s push toward a cashless economy.

The circular reiterates the provisions of Section 21(s) of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, emphasizing that the same transaction limit for cash payments at retail outlets will also apply to e-commerce CoD orders.

The FBR stated that this measure aligns with the government’s broader objective of promoting digital payments and reducing reliance on cash transactions.

The Rs. 200,000 limit is expected to streamline payment processes, enhance transparency, and curb tax evasion.

Las Vegas
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The president of Cisco rejects the doomsday warnings from some tech leaders that artificial intelligence will make entry-level jobs vanish.

“I just refuse to believe that humans are going to be obsolete. It just seems like it’s an absurd concept,” Jeetu Patel, who’s also the chief product officer at AI infrastructure company Cisco, told CNN.

While Patel acknowledged there will be “growing pains where people will get disrupted,” he strongly pushed back on Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s comments saying AI will spike unemployment to as high as 20% and eliminate half of all white-collar entry level jobs.

He’s one of several tech leaders that have pushed back on Amodei’s narrative; others have said AI is likely to change jobs by requiring workers to adopt new skills rather than wiping out jobs completely. Still, his comments come amid a plunge in entry-level hiring and as tech giants are increasingly using AI in the workplace, raising questions about the future of work.

“Dario is a friend. We are investors in Anthropic. I have a ton of respect for what he’s done. In this area though, I have a slightly different opinion on a couple of different dimensions,” Patel said Wednesday at Ai4, an AI conference in Las Vegas. “I reject the notion that humans are going to be obsolete in like five years, that we’re not going to have anything to do and we’re going to be sitting on the beach… It doesn’t make any sense.”

In particular, Patel said he has a “huge concern” with Amodei’s line of thinking that AI could wipe out entry-level jobs because companies benefit from adding younger workers who often better understand new technologies.

“If you just say, ‘I’m going to eradicate all entry-level jobs,’ that’s the stupidest thing a company can do in the long term because what you’ve done is you’ve actually taken away the injection of new perspective,” the Cisco exec said.

Patel argued that for some jobs, having significant experience can be a “massive liability.” For instance, he said people often hold assumptions about things that may not have worked five years ago, but do now.

That’s why Patel said he spends “an enormous amount of time” with younger employees and interns.

“I learn a lot from people who’ve just gotten out of college because they have a fresh and unique perspective. And that perspective coupled with (my) experience makes magic happen,” Patel said. “It would be a really bad strategy to not have early in career people and entry level people injected in your workplace.”

However, some economists say there are early signs suggesting AI may already be depressing entry-level jobs.

Even though the overall job market has been mostly healthy, the Class of 2025 faces the worst job market for new college graduates in years.

For the first time since tracking started in 1980, the unemployment rate for recent graduates (those 22 to 27 years old with at least a bachelor’s degree) is higher than the national unemployment rate, according to Oxford Economics.

Entry-level hiring has tumbled by 23% between March 2020 and May 2025, outpacing the 18% decline in overall hiring over that span, according to data from LinkedIn.

This is happening for a variety of reasons, some of them unrelated to AI.

But AI does seem to be playing a role, some economists say. For instance, Oxford Economics noted that employment in two industries vulnerable to AI disruption — computer science and mathematics — has dropped by 8% since 2022 for recent graduates. By comparison, employment has little changed in those industries for older workers.

“AI is definitely displacing some of these lower-level jobs,” Matthew Martin, senior US economist at Oxford Economics, told CNN in June.

Economists and AI researchers say the jobs most at risk involve repetitive tasks that can be automated, such as data input.

“The less interesting clerical jobs will go away. They will be automated. And if you don’t automate, you’ll go out of business,” Alan Ranger, vice president of marketing at Cognigy, told CNN on the sidelines of Ai4.

Cognigy would know: It sells conversational AI agents that provide customer support for banks, airlines and other companies.

Ranger said Cognigy’s AI agents came to the rescue when German airline Lufthansa had to cancel every flight due to a strike in Germany earlier this year. The technology allowed Lufthansa to rebook thousands of flights per minute, he said.

Ranger argued that companies won’t massively lay off customer support workers because humans still need to manage the AI agents, design the software and tackle other complex issues.

Yet he did concede that companies will have fewer customer support workers in the future as people leave the industry and retire, and because firms will hire for different roles.

“Account management and sales roles won’t get replaced anytime soon,” Ranger said. “An AI can’t buy you a steak dinner.”

Patel, the Cisco executive, said the onus is on the tech industry and society as a whole to ensure a smooth transition to superintelligent AI.

“In tech, we live in a bubble. We keep thinking, ‘Oh, disruption is just part of it.’ But when a steel mill worker gets disrupted, they don’t become an AI prompt engineer,” he said.

Patel said there is a lot of retraining and reskilling that must be done in tandem with governments and educators.

“The tech community has to actually take some responsibility for this,” he said. “Because if we don’t, you will create some level of pain in society and we want to make sure we avoid that.”

Foster + Partners has revealed designs for IOTA Seoul I, a mixed-use development on a landmark site between Seoul Station and Namsan, a 270-metre-high peak in Jung-Gu. Historically, the site acted as an important gateway to Seoul when arriving by train. The project creates a green oasis in the heart of the city – and restores the area’s historic connection with Namsan and its surrounding public park. 

Luke Fox, Head of Studio, Foster + Partners, said: “We are extending the experience of the adjacent Namsan Park into the development and creating a welcoming new destination for the people of Seoul. Our scheme responds to this important site – where nature and the city converge – with a series of interventions that carefully balance both elements. New buildings are woven together by landscaping and green community spaces that bring a wealth of social and environmental benefits.” 

Two new buildings – a six-star hotel and a 34-storey office tower – are positioned at an optimal distance apart from one another, restoring clear lines of sight from Seoullo 7017 to Namsan and the iconic N Seoul Tower. The design re-establishes lost connections with nature and greens 40 percent of the site for public use. A central park, pocket gardens, landscaped terraces, and roof terraces draw people into the development and provide new social spaces within the city. The site’s level changes are also resolved – and new pedestrian thoroughfares are established with escalators and stairs that improve access from the train station and Toegye-ro. 

The office tower and its pavilion offer state of the art amenities tailored to tenants’ needs and a roof garden that offers spectacular views of Namsan and the city. The office building’s structural system provides 18-metre spans of column-free space for inherent flexibility and longevity. A third building – located alongside the hotel – will be the city’s new centre for tourism. It is publicly accessible with step-free access to a roof garden that overlooks the newly created public park. The practice’s design also celebrates the site’s architectural heritage by retaining the lobby space of an existing hotel, which was designed by the architect Kim Jong-sung.  

47 percent of the development’s operational energy will be generated by photovoltaic panels, which are integrated into building facades and roofs, ground source heating and cooling, and the latest fuel cell technology. 

Jeremy Kim, Partner, Foster + Partners, added: “We are delighted to be working on this exciting project that gives back to Seoul – by positively transforming this important piece of its urban fabric.” 

OpenAI has quietly rolled out a new subscription tier titled ChatGPT Go, priced at around PKR 1,300 ($4.55 USD).

The plan offers compelling upgrades over the free tier, including access to GPT 5, and enhanced image generating capabilities. You also get advanced data analysis features. However, it is not for everyone.

What’s in the Go Plan?

While similar in name to Plus and Pro offerings, ChatGPT Go provides a mid level alternative for users seeking more than free access without committing to higher priced plans. It delivers:

• Access to GPT 5, albeit with some usage limits
• Expanded messaging throughput and upload capacity
• Integration of AI based image creation
• Limited deep research tools, longer memory retention, and advanced data analysis tools

ChatGPT Go: A Strategic Regional Rollout

OpenAI appears to be testing this tier strategically, targeting markets where affordability strongly influences adoption rates. A limited region rollout allows them to monitor performance and user reception before broader deployment.

This move addresses a gap in OpenAI’s lineup, positioned below the $20 ChatGPT Plus (PKR 5,600) and $200 Pro (PKR 56,000)tiers, and suggests efforts to democratize AI access and broaden user reach.

Broader Subscription Trends

OpenAI’s broader strategy continues to focus on subscriptions, with plans like Plus, Pro, Team, and Enterprise already in place. The Go tier takes a notable step toward making advanced AI features financially accessible by offering the tier for developing markets, such as India. However, it is still not available for Pakistan.

As the AI ecosystem becomes more competitive, such pricing innovations could preempt rising rivals. OpenAI may expand ChatGPT Go to other regions if early results are positive.

Performance and user feedback will determine if Go becomes permanent or evolves further.

MANILA, Philippines — Asian are generally higher after most stocks on Wall Street fell following a disappointing report that said inflation was worse last month at the U.S. wholesale level than economists had expected.

U.S. futures rose while oil prices slipped.

China reported data showing its economy was feeling pressure from higher U.S. tariffs in July, while property investments fell further.

Retail sales rose 3.7% year-on-year, down from 4.8% in June, while investments in factory equipment and other fixed assets rose a meager 1.6%, compared with 2.8% growth in January-June.

Uncertainty over tariffs on exports to the United States is still looming over manufacturers after President Donald Trump extended a pause in sharp hikes in import duties for 90 days following a 90-day pause that began in May.

The Shanghai Composite index added 0.8% to 3,694.91, but Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 1.2% to 25,216.45.

“Chinese economic activity slowed across the board in July, with retail sales, fixed asset investment, and value added of industry growth all reaching the lowest levels of the year. After a strong start, several months of cooling momentum suggest that the economy may need further policy support,” ING Economics said in a market commentary.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 1.7% to 43,381.10 after the government reported that the economy grew at a 1% annual pace in the April-June quarter. That was better than analysts had expected.

Elsewhere in Asia, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.7% to 8,938.60, Taiwan’s TAIEX gained 0.4%. India’s BSE Sensex edged 0.1% higher.

Attention later Friday will likely focus on an update on U.S. retail sales and on a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

On Thursday, seven out of every 10 stocks within the S&P 500 fell, though the index edged up by less than 0.1% to set another all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 11 points, or less than 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite fell less than 0.1% from its record set the day before.

The inflation report said that prices jumped 3.3% last month at the U.S. wholesale level from a year earlier. That was well above the 2.5% rate that economists had forecast, and it could hint at higher inflation ahead for U.S. shoppers as higher costs make their way through the system.

The data led traders to second guess their widespread consensus that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at its next meeting in September. Lower rates can boost investment prices and the economy by making it cheaper for U.S. households and businesses to borrow to buy houses, cars or equipment, but they also risk worsening inflation.

Higher interest rates drag on all kinds of companies by keeping the cost to borrow high. They can hurt smaller companies in particular because they often need to borrow to grow. The Russell 2000 index of smaller U.S. stocks tumbled a market-leading 1.2%.

Thursday’s disappointing data followed an encouraging update earlier in the week on prices at the consumer level. A separate report on Thursday, meanwhile, said fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week. That’s a good sign for workers, indicating that layoffs remain relatively low at a time when job openings have become more difficult to find.

But a solid job market could also give the Fed less reason to cut interest rates in the short term.

Big Tech stocks helped mask Wall Street’s losses. Amazon rose 2.9% to add to its gains from the prior day when it announced same-day delivery of fresh groceries in more than 1,000 cities and towns.

Because Amazon is so huge, with a market value of $2.45 trillion, the movements for its stock carry much more weight on the S&P 500 than the typical company’s.

In other dealings early Friday, U.S. benchmark crude lost 8 cents to $63.88 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 11 cents to $66.73 per barrel.

The dollar edged lower to 147.11 Japanese yen from 147.20 yen. The euro rose to $1.1672 from $1.1654.

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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.

Zong, Pakistan’s No.1 data network, and ZTE Corporation (0763.HK / 000063.SZ), a global leading provider of integrated information and communication technology solutions, have announced the commercial launch of the industry’s first high-power 8T8R Ultra-Broadband Radio (HP 8T8R UBR) and Digital Intelligent Antenna (DIA) solution.

This pioneering deployment marks a significant milestone for both companies. ZTE’s HP 8T8R UBR solution delivers the industry’s highest power (8x120W) for FDD dual band (1800MHz and 2100MHz), which are the key bands of Zong network. It is also the first such solution to be commercially launched worldwide.

This breakthrough in RRU high integration design enables a single unit to replace multiple legacy RRUs, saving up to 67% of RRUs for towers. This consolidation dramatically reduces the complexity of deployments, minimizes antenna space requirements, and lowers the overall equipment footprint.

Coupled with ZTE’s DIA antenna solution, the system supports the beamforming function by software definition which enables two 4T4R cells for current network or one 8T8R cell for the next-generation network.

The two companies are also exploring cost-efficient deployment strategies. For the scenario defined for newly rolled-out sites, they are used as “422” site which means one 4T4R cell and two 2T2R cells per site, particularly in scenarios where space and power are constrained.

Results from Zong’s commercial launch revealed significant performance enhancements, including a capacity increase of 34% in daily and 83% in busy hour, a user experience improvement of 173% in daily and 115% in busy hour. Beyond improved performance, it simplifies deployment and has proven to be a reliable and efficient alternative to traditional multi-radio setups.

Zong has expressed strong interest in scaling these solutions across its network, citing clear operational benefits, cost savings, and improved service quality.

This milestone underscores the shared commitment of Zong and ZTE to driving technological innovation and delivering next-generation network experiences. Through close collaboration, both companies are not only accelerating the evolution of Pakistan’s digital infrastructure but also setting a new benchmark for efficient, high-performance mobile networks across emerging markets. As the partnership deepens, Zong and ZTE will continue to explore cutting-edge solutions that empower users and enable sustainable growth.