Business
PSX rally falters as uncertainty returns | The Express Tribune
KARACHI:
After several sessions of upward momentum, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw a sharp reversal on Wednesday as renewed selling wiped out gains and the benchmark KSE-100 index plunged by nearly 1,600 points, reflecting widespread selling across key sectors.
At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index settled at 187,033.27, with a decrease of 1,588.52 points or 0.84%.
Trading opened on a relatively steady note, with the index briefly edging higher and touching an intra-day peak of 189,523.43. The optimism, however, proved short-lived. Persistent selling dominated most of the session, erasing early advances while pressure intensified towards the close, dragging the index down to an intra-day low of 186,626.85.
Investor sentiment remained fragile, with participants adopting a cautious stance amid a volatile trading environment. Uncertainty over macroeconomic conditions, fiscal measures, and the direction of key policy decisions dominated market behaviour, prompting investors to trim positions and limit exposure, which further weighed on overall sentiment as the session progressed.
KTrade Securities equity trader Ahmed Sheraz commented that PSX witnessed profit-taking during the session.
He said selling pressure emerged primarily driven by institutional activity as investors moved to lock in recent gains ahead of next week’s monetary policy announcement while overall market participation remained healthy, with KSE-100 volumes recorded at 703 million shares.
Heavyweight stocks remained under pressure with Meezan Bank, Engro Holdings, MCB Bank, Habib Bank, Systems Limited, United Bank and Pakistan State Oil closing in the red.
The selling trend reflected broad-based profit-taking rather than stock-specific weakness, Sheraz added.
On a sectoral basis, commercial banks, investment banks and technology stocks underperformed, contributing to the overall negative sentiment. Given the upcoming futures rollover and the monetary policy decision scheduled for Monday, Sheraz expected the sentiment to remain range-bound in the coming sessions, with next week likely to determine the near-term direction.
Overall trading volume increased to 1.32 billion shares compared with Tuesday’s tally of 1.22b while shares of 488 companies were traded. Of these, 118 closed higher, 331 dropped and 39 remained unchanged.
K-Electric led the volume chart with trading in 263.3m shares, gaining Rs0.26 to close at Rs7.01. It was followed by Hascol Petroleum with 100.8m shares, rising Rs0.58 to close at Rs28.05 and Fauji Foods with 75m shares, climbing Rs0.67 to close at Rs23.17.
Business
Claire’s closes all 154 stores in UK and Ireland with loss of 1,300 jobs
All of the chain’s standalone stores have stopped trading in the UK and Ireland.
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Business
Domino’s Pizza stock falls on disappointing sales — and CEO thinks more chains will follow
A pedestrian walks by a Domino’s Pizza on Dec. 9, 2025 in San Francisco, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Domino’s Pizza stock fell 10% in morning trading on Monday after it reported weaker-than-expected U.S. same-store sales growth.
The chain’s domestic same-store sales rose just 0.9%, lower than the 2.3% bump expected by Wall Street analysts, based on StreetAccount estimates.
“We’re not happy with it,” CEO Russell Weiner told CNBC.
The pizza chain also lowered its full-year U.S. same-store sales forecast to low-single digit growth, down from its prior projection that U.S. same-store sales will increase 3%.
Weiner said he expects more fast-food chains to report similar headwinds from winter weather and weak consumer sentiment, which took a dive in March due to spiking fuel prices caused by the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
“One of the bad things about reporting first is you don’t get to hear about anybody else,” Weiner said.
Domino’s kicked off the earnings season for restaurant chains. Starbucks is on deck after the bell on Tuesday, and Chipotle Mexican Grill and Pizza Hut owner Yum Brands are expected to share their results on Wednesday. Rival Papa John’s will report its earnings next Thursday.
During the quarter, Domino’s also faced stiffer competition from rival pizza chains. Papa John’s and Pizza Hut both matched Domino’s $9.99 “Best Deal Ever” with promotions at the same price point. And Little Caesars undercut Domino’s $6.99 Mix & Match deal with a $5.99 version.
“People are seeing what we’re doing, and they’re sick of losing share, and they’re coming at it,” Weiner said, adding that he still expects Papa John’s and Pizza Hut to report same-store sales declines for the quarter despite the new promotions.
Looking ahead, Weiner expressed confidence that Domino’s will prove itself in the long run.
“Domino’s has got a bigger advertising budget than our second two competitors combined,” he said. “And those competitors are both going up for sale, so we know things aren’t good there right now.”
Yum announced in November that it was exploring strategic options for Pizza Hut, which could include a sale. And Papa John’s is reportedly in talks with Qatari-backed Irth Capital to go private. Both chains have also announced plans to close hundreds of restaurants this year, which could further boost Domino’s dominant position in the pizza category.
And if either Pizza Hut or Papa John’s goes private, Weiner said he expects that a new owner would shutter even more locations — a win for Domino’s.
Shares of Domino’s have lost nearly a third of their value over the last year. The company’s market cap has fallen to roughly $11.2 billion.
Business
United Airlines CEO confirms he approached American Airlines about merger
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby (L) and American Airlines CEO Robert Isom listen as U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy speaks to reporters outside the White House on October 30, 2025 in Washington, D.C.
Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby confirmed Monday that he contacted American Airlines about a potential merger, a possibility American rejected.
“I approached American about exploring a combination because I thought we could do something incredible for customers together,” Kirby said in a statement. He said he shared his “big, bold vision” because he was confident it could win regulatory approval.
American rejected the idea and its CEO, Robert Isom, last week said such a merger would be bad for customers and “anticompetitive.”
Kirby had floated the idea to the Trump administration earlier this year, according to people familiar with the matter who weren’t authorized to discuss the private conversation, in hopes that the combination would mean a big global airline to compete with foreign rivals
American declined to comment on Kirby’s Monday statement.
“I was hoping to pitch that story to American, but they declined to engage and instead responded by publicly closing the door,” Kirby said in his statement Monday. “And without a willing partner, something this big simply can’t get done.”
He said that “American’s public comments make it clear that a merger like this is off the table for the foreseeable future” but outlined his vision for a combined airline.
Kirby reiterated that the country has deficit with foreign airlines that fly more than half of the long-haul seats into the U.S., with most of the customers being Americans.
“The combined scale of United and American would be a better way to compete with foreign carriers,” he said.
President Donald Trump said he was against the idea of a combination last week.
“I don’t like having them merge,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Tuesday morning. He said he would, however, like someone to buy struggling discount carrier Spirit but he also suggested that the federal government could “help that one out.”
Spirit and the Trump administration are in advanced talks for a rescue package.
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