Bulls asserted their dominance in the market on Thursday after Election Commission Pakistan provided an election date to the Supreme Court.
The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 index gained 321.74, or 0.61 per cent, at 2:08pm on Thursday from the previous close of 52,342.63 points.
This development follows the ECP’s informing the Supreme Court that general elections will be held on Feb 11, which indicates political stability.
Stocks have rallied for the fourth consecutive day, following the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP)‘s announcement to maintain its policy rate of 22 per cent to contain inflation which was at par with most analysts’ expectations.
In addition, October’s inflation clocked in at 26.9pc, which analysts say indicates that inflation will cool down in the near future.
“On a month-on-month basis, inflation has slowed down to 1.08pc versus the last three months averaging 2.4pc,” said Mohammad Sohail, chief executive of Topline Securities.
So far, major activity was reported in stocks such as Worldcall Telecom Limited, TPL Properties Limited, Pakistan Refinery Limited, Cnergyico PK Limited, and Ghani Global Holdings Limited.
The top advancers include Agritech Limited, TPL Corp Limited, TPL Properties Limited, Dandot Cement Company Limited and Leather Up Limited.
The top decliners include The Universal Insurance Company Limited, Premier Insurance Limited, Tri-Star Mutual Fund Limited, Pakistan Oxygen Limited and Masood Textile Mills Limited.
Mourning his father and brother, Mohammed Wadi says armed Israeli settlers from outposts overlooking his olive-growing West Bank village no longer aim low when they shoot at Palestinian neighbours. “Now, they shoot to kill,” he said.
Violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, already at a more than 15-year high this year, surged further after Israel hurtled into a new war in the separate enclave of Gaza in response to Hamas’ deadly Oct 7 attack.
Days later, on Oct 12, Wadi’s father and brother were shot dead when armed Israeli settlers and soldiers stopped a funeral cortege for three other Palestinians killed by settlers the day before, two Reuters witnesses and three other people present said. It was one of the more than 170 attacks on Palestinians involving settlers recorded by the UN since the Hamas rampage.
“Arabs and Jews used to throw stones at each other. Settlers my age now all seem to have automatic weapons,” said Wadi, 29, in the olive-growing village of Qusra. And while a decade ago armed settlers would fire their weapons to scare or injure villagers during confrontations, increasingly, shootings were deadly, he said.
Reuters could not definitively establish who shot the Wadis. Palestinian officials who investigated the funeral killings said the gunfire appeared to come from settlers rather than soldiers, a view supported by the three other people present.
Palestinians take part in protests during the funeral of Palestinian Labib Dumaidi, 19, who was killed in an Israeli settlers’ attack, near Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank October 6, 2023.—Reuters/Raneen Sawafta
Shira Liebman, head of the Yesha Council, the main West Bank settlers organisation, told Reuters that settlers were not involved in the killings and were not targeting Palestinians.
Israel’s hard-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, one of at least two senior government ministers living in the settlements, said he had ordered the purchase of 10,000 rifles to arm Israeli civilians, including settlers, after Hamas’ attack.
Ben-Gvir’s office did not respond to a request for comment about whether guns had already been distributed in the West Bank. He said on Twitter on Oct 11 that 900 assault rifles had been handed out in areas to the north of the West Bank, close to Lebanon, and that thousands more would soon be distributed.
Vigilante-style settler attacks have killed 29 people this year according to the UN Humanitarian Affairs Office, OCHA. At least eight of those were since Oct 7 alone, worrying ordinary Palestinians, Israeli security experts and Western officials.
Washington has condemned settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank while the European Union on Tuesday denounced “settler terrorism” that risked a “dangerous escalation of the conflict”.
Daily settler attacks have more than doubled, the UN figures show, since Hamas, which controls the coastal enclave of Gaza to Israel’s southwest, killed 1,400 Israelis and took more than 200 hostage.
Israel has since bombed and invaded Gaza, killing nearly 9,000 Palestinians.
While Hamas tightly controls besieged Gaza, the West Bank is a complex patchwork of hillside cities, Israeli settlements and army checkpoints that split Palestinian communities.
Hamas cited Israeli actions in the West Bank, core to a would-be Palestinian state, in waging its attack.
Funeral killings
After settlers shot dead three Palestinians at an olive grove near Qusra on Oct 11, Mohammed’s brother Ahmed and father Ibrahim saw it as their duty to greet the funeral procession as it brought the bodies back from a nearby hospital, he said.
Wadi’s father was shot through the torso, his brother through the neck and chest, after the armed settlers, in the presence of uniformed soldiers, blocked the cortege at a roadside, the five witnesses said.
“It was gunfire from settlers,” Abdullah Abu Rahma, who works for the Palestinian government’s Settlement and Wall Resistance Commission said.
A woman reacts as mourners attend the funeral of four Palestinians killed in clashes with Israeli settlers, near Nablus in the Israel-occupied West Bank October 12, 2023.—Reuters/Ammar Awad
The Israeli military claimed it tried to disperse clashes between Israelis and Palestinians on the day and that the incident was being investigated.
Settlement official Liebman denied settler involvement in the killings, while one local Hebrew-language social media page that backs settler activists said the Israeli military had fired on the Wadis.
“We’ve had more than our share of brutal terrorist attacks. We’re facing an enemy who wants to destroy us,” settlement leader Liebman told Reuters, echoing widespread security fears among Israelis following the Hamas incursion.
Liebman said “local security teams” were equipped to protect Jewish communities.
Since the Oct 7 rampage, visible support for Hamas has grown among Palestinians in the West Bank, including in areas where the group has not traditionally been strong.
This year was already the deadliest in at least 15 years for West Bank residents, with some 200 Palestinians and 26 Israelis killed, according to United Nations data. But just in the three weeks since the Oct 7 attack, another 121 West Bank Palestinians have been killed.
Clashes with soldiers have caused most deaths.
However, the actions of Israeli extremists further fuel Palestinian resentment that observers say risks erupting into more armed action.
The Israeli military said it was trying to stem violence and protect Palestinian civilians. “It hurts security here. These … incidents create more clashes, and it’s people who have taken the law into their own hands,” a spokesperson said in response to Reuters questions about settler attacks.
‘Great danger’
Settler-related violence is becoming harder to stem with the ongoing Gaza war and the augmented power of far-right politicians, Israeli security experts say.
“There’s a great danger (from) extreme right activists in the West Bank,” said Lior Akerman, a former officer in Israel’s Shin Bet internal security service.
Settlers are using the deployment of soldiers to Gaza and northern Israel, where troops are fighting Lebanese Hezbollah, to wage unimpeded attacks, he said. “The army is now even busier, which allows (settlers) to operate freely.
“They also receive support from representatives of the government … which makes it difficult for security organisations,” he added.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed extreme right-wing ministers, including Ben-Gvir, as part of his cabinet last year to secure another term.
People hold flags during the funeral of four Palestinians killed by Israeli settlers, near Nablus in Israel-occupied West Bank on October 12, 2023.—Reuters/Ammar Awad
A senior Israeli government official, who declined to be named, said: “Sporadic Palestinian terrorism (in the West Bank) is what makes things more difficult to keep under control.”
In a sign the settler incidents are worrying the Israeli security establishment, the defence ministry this week ordered the administrative detention of Ariel Danino, a prominent settler activist on state security grounds, an action usually aimed at Palestinian activists.
‘Give us guns’
Wadi’s family is plugged into the local community. He says the family eschews armed action and has watched settler hostilities rise.
He works for a Palestinian government body that monitors soldier and settler violence.
His father, Ibrahim, was a local official who tried to mediate between Israeli and Palestinian authorities to reduce violence and was disliked by radical settlers, Wadi said.
Akerman said settler violence risked provoking armed action by a new generation of Palestinian fighters that have emerged in the West Bank. One, The Lion’s Den, urged attacks on Israel on Tuesday.
A Reuters witness said that at the funeral that finally took place after the Wadis were killed on Oct 12, Palestinian gunmen perched on a roof watching proceedings, apparently on the look out for settler violence.
An Israeli soldier holds a weapon on the day of the funeral of Palestinian Labib Dumaidi, 19, who was killed in an Israeli settlers’ attack, near Nablus in the Israel-occupied West Bank on October 6, 2023.—Reuters/Raneen Sawafta
So far there has been no major action as Israel’s military chokes Palestinian movement throughout the West Bank and detains hundreds of men.
In Qusra last week, Wadi sat below a poster commemorating his brother and father and scanned his phone for death threats against local Palestinians on Hebrew-language social media pages.
He said he felt surrounded. A fortress-like settlement ringed by a large wall looms opposite Qusra, and two others squat on hills above the village’s olive groves.
Abdullah, a local resident who gave only his first name, expressed more anger. “I’m prepared to pick up a gun. If only someone would give us some,” he said.
Header photo: Israeli border police walk during Palestinian protests during the funeral of Palestinian Labib Dumaidi, 19, who was killed in an Israeli settlers’ attack, near Nablus in Israel-occupied West Bank on October 6, 2023.—Reuters/Raneen Sawafta
Pakistan’s World Cup campaign has taken a hit with four consecutive losses following their initial twovictories, putting them on the brink of elimination from semi-final contention. Now, the outcomes of other matches are as crucial as Pakistan’s own victories in the remaining two games if they want to to secure a top-four spot.
The race for the semi-finals is in full swing, with 13 league matches remaining (including India vs Sri Lanka today). India and South Africa seem almost certain to secure semi-final berths. Australia is in third place, while New Zealand’s loss to South Africa in Pune last night has intensified the battle for the fourth position.
Current team standings as of Nov 2 (ahead of India vs SL game). — Courtesy EspnCricinfo
Pakistan are currently fifth on the points table, having six points from seven matches and are ahead of Afghanistan at the moment due to their net run rate (NRR), which currently is -0.024.
By winning their upcoming matches against the Kiwis on Nov 4 and England on Nov 11, coupled with favourable outcomes from other games, Pakistan do have a remote chance.
Pakistan’s route to the semifinals
According to the International Cricket Council (ICC), Pakistan’s path to success necessitates winning both of their remaining matches while maintaining a superior NRR than several other teams that could potentially finish with 10 points.
If Pakistan were to lose one of their remaining two matches, the team’s chances would then hinge significantly on the results of other teams.
In that scenario, according to the ICC: “Australia lose all of their three remaining matches, New Zealand lose their two remaining matches, while Afghanistan lose at least two of their three remaining matches, and Pakistan finish with a better NRR than the many other teams that can also finish on eight points.”
In order to outpace New Zealand’s NRR, Pakistan will need to secure a victory against the BlackCaps by a margin of at least 83 runs or accomplish a successful chase within approximately 35 overs in the upcoming clash in Bengaluru on Saturday, according to cricket statistician Mazher Arshad.
Subsequently, Pakistan must sustain and further improve their performance in the final game against England to finish with a better NRR.
In the bleakest scenario for Pakistan fans, if the team loses both of their remaining matches, there won’t be any scenario left for their World Cup journey other than a safe return home for the team.
The Supreme Court on Thursday resumed hearing a set of petitions calling for holding elections within 90 days after the dissolution of the National Assembly and the provincial legislatures.
A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan and Justice Athar Minallah took up the pleas moved by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), the PTI, Munir Ahmad and Ibad-ur-Rehman.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had earlier ruled out polls this year citing the need for fresh delimitation of constituencies.
Since the National Assembly was dissolved three days before the end of its constitutional term, Article 224 of the Constitution mandates that elections be held within 90 days of the dissolution of the assembly by November 7.
But at the same time, Section 17(2) of the Elections Act states that “the commission shall delimit constituencies after every census is officially published.”
Last month, the commission announced that elections would be held in January 2024 but stopped short of announcing a date.
At the previous hearing, the court had issued notices to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the federal government for their input on polls within 90 days.
The CJP had observed there were no two opinions that “all of us want elections, but a wrong impression is being created that we are not interested”.
The petitions
SCBA chief Abid Zuberi, through his petition, had pleaded with the apex court to suspend the operation of a decision taken by the Council of Common Interests (CCI) on Aug 5 since the body did not meet the legal requirement of proper composition when it met that day.
He said the ECP’s primary responsibility was to hold elections within 90 days from the date of dissolution of the assemblies — a mandatory period which cannot be extended on any ground, including delimitation of constituencies.
Meanwhile, the PTI’s application sought direction from President Dr Arif Alvi to announce a date for holding elections within 90 days of the dissolution of the National Assembly.
It also requested the apex court to order the ECP to issue a schedule accordingly, besides the governors of all four provinces be directed to announce the date of elections within 90 days of the dissolution of the respective assemblies, or in accordance with the SC judgement in the Punjab Assembly election case.
KURRAM: Amid unconfirmed reports of more deaths in fighting between two groups, government officials have claimed a ceasefire in most of the affected areas of Kurram tribal district on Tuesday.
They told Dawn that efforts were underway to stop clashes between the two groups and that tribal elders and local ulema had succeeded in brokering a ceasefire in 90 per cent of restive areas in the district.
District police officer Mohammad Imran confirmed the ceasefire in four major areas, including Sadda, Baleshkhel, Maqbal and Kanj Alizai.
He said security forces and police had been deployed in those areas and that they were evacuating bunkers and collecting arms from the armed groups.
There are unconfirmed reports of more deaths in clashes
The DPO also said that efforts were being made for a ceasefire in the other areas of Pewar, Tari Mangal, Karman and Para Chamkani for the restoration of peace in the entire district.
There are unconfirmed reports of more casualties on Tuesday.
However, there was no official statement on the number of the dead and wounded since clashes began between the two sides a week ago.
The local administration is tight-lipped due to “spillover concerns.”
Officials, however, say that while a controversial video triggered clashes, the underlying factor was a local land dispute between two sects in the sensitive district.
The conflict between the two groups has badly disrupted life as mobile phone network and transportation in the district stands suspended with all routes closed to traffic.
The residents have also complained about an acute shortage of essential commodities.
The casualty figures vary anywhere from nine to over 40 in the eight-days-long clashes in which both sides used heavy and sophisticated weapons.
“What is important is the destruction of bunkers and de-weaponisation of the district,” an official told Dawn.
He said belligerent tribes occupied bunkers and began firing every time there was an issue. “Plus, the presence of heavy and sophisticated weapons has made it all the more difficult for law-enforcement agencies to control the situation quickly,” he said.
The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s benchmark KSE-100 index started early morning trade in the green on Wednesday, gaining more than 300 points.
At 11:22am, the index extended its gains by 368.62, or 0.71 per cent, crossing yet another psychological barrier of 52,000 after six years.
Yesterday, share prices had risen on the maintenance of the monetary policy status quo announced on Monday. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) sustained its policy rate of 22pc to contain inflation which was at par with most analysts’ expectations.
Raza Jafri, head of Intermarket Securities, stated laser-sharp focus on the economy, prospects of monetary easing going forward, and optimism about successfully navigating the IMF review to be supporting factors of the rally.
“The KSE-100 had a very strong October (+15% in USD) and looks good to extend its rally.”
However, he added, “Despite the rally, valuations are still 50% lower than the long-term mean.”
So far, major activity is reported in stocks such Worldcall Telecom Limited, Cnergyico PK Limited, Pakistan Refinery Limited, Pak Elektron Limited and Oil & Gas Development Company Limited.
The top advancers include Premier Insurance Limited, Ghazi Fabrics International Limited, Dandot Cement Company Limited and Unicap Modaraba.
ZURICH: Saudi Arabia is in line to host the 2034 World Cup after FIFA announced on Tuesday that the kingdom was the only bidder for the tournament.
The decision, to be ratified officially at the end of the year providing all of the technical criteria are met, came after Australia decided against bidding for the 2034 men’s football World Cup, paving the way for Saudi Arabia to host the event.
Football Australia pulled its bid on the Oct 31 deadline, after the Asian Football Confederation threw its weight behind Saudi Arabia.
“We have explored the opportunity to bid to host the FIFA World Cup and — having taken all factors into consideration — we reached the conclusion not to do so for the 2034 competition,” Football Australia said in a statement.
FIFA had invited bids from the Asia and Oceania regions for the rotating World Cup hosting rights after naming Morocco, Spain and Portugal as joint hosts for 2030.
There had been talk of a joint bid from Indonesia and Australia for 2034, but the former recently said it supported the Saudi bid.
Saudi Arabia’s bid to host the 2034 World Cup is the latest step in a campaign to turn the kingdom into a global sports powerhouse.
Neighbouring Qatar last year hosted the first World Cup in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, Australia is now eyeing the Women’s Asian Cup in 2026 and the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup.
“Achieving this — following the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 and with the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games — would represent a truly golden decade for Australian football,” Football Australia said.
Saudi Arabia, which has invested heavily in football as well as Formula One and golf, is set to take over from an unprecedented tricontinental line-up for the 2030 event.
The Sport & Rights Alliance and Amnesty International say FIFA needs to secure clear and binding commitments to improve human rights in countries likely to host the 2030 and 2034 men’s World Cup tournaments to prevent serious potential abuses.
“With only a single bid for each tournament on the table, FIFA may have scored an own goal,” Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s Head of Economic and Social Justice said in a statement.”
