KARACHI: A crowd gathers in front of the four-story residence of Ajaz Hasan in Karachi’s Nazimabad neighborhood. Above them a crane lowers its cargo from the rooftop: a live bull.
For the past decade, Hasan has used the space afforded by his building’s rooftop to raise bulls that will be slaughtered and eaten during Eid celebrations. But Sunday was a particularly special occasion as the bulls sported the national flag on their horns in honor of Pakistan’s Independence Day, which falls on Tuesday.
As the crane arrives, residents pour out onto the street or dash to their windows to watch this unusual but interesting exercise.
“I would always purchase a baby bull and raise it to sacrifice on Eid Al-Adha,” Hasan told Arab News. “But there is no longer enough space at street level to keep bulls, so, 10 years ago, I had the idea of using the rooftop instead.
“That first time I raised a bull on the roof, I realized I’d need a crane to get it down, and that attracted a lot of attention,” he continued.
This year, Hasan raised seven bulls for sacrifice at Eid-al-Adha. “We don’t just feed them grass, like most cattle,” he added, explaining that his bulls are “special” and receive “special feed.”
Raised on the roof: Karachi’s sacrificial bulls
Raised on the roof: Karachi’s sacrificial bulls
- People in Karachi use rooftops of the building as an affordable place to raise bulls as sacrificial animals for Eid al Adha celebrations
- People in Karachi use rooftops of the building as an affordable place to raise bulls as sacrificial animals for Eid al Adha celebrations
Pakistani stocks breach 176,000 points barrier as investors expect further rate cuts
- Pakistani financial analyst attributes surge to falling inflation, investors expecting further policy rate cuts
- Pakistan’s finance ministry said Thursday that inflation had slowed to 5.6 percent year-on-year in December
KARACHI: Pakistani stocks continued their bullish run on Thursday, breaching the 176,000 points barrier for the first time after trading ended, with analysts attributing the surge to investors expecting further cuts in the policy rate.
The KSE-100 benchmark gained 2,301.17 points at close of business on Thursday, marking an increase of 1.32 percent to settle at 176,355.49 points.
Pakistan’s central bank cut its key policy rate by 50 basis points to 10.5 percent last month, breaking a four-meeting hold in a move that surprised markets. Pakistan’s consumer price inflation slowed to 5.6 percent year-on-year in December, while prices fell on a monthly basis as per data from the finance ministry.
“Upbeat data for consumer price index (CPI) inflation at 5.6pc in December 2025 [with] investors expecting a further State Bank of Pakistan rate cuts on falling inflation data,” Ahsan Mehanti, CEO of Arif Habib Commodities Ltd., told Arab News.
The stock market witnessed a trading volume of 1,402.650 million shares, with a traded value of Rs48.424 billion ($173 million), compared with 957.239 million shares valued at Rs44.231 billion ($158 million) during the previous session.
Topline Securities, a leading brokerage firm in Pakistan, credited the surge to strong buying at the first session.
“This positivity can be accredited to buying by local institutions on the start of the new calendar year,” it said.
Pakistan’s Finance Adviser Khurram Schehzad highlighted that the bullish trend at the stock market reflected “strong investor confidence.”
“With lower inflation, affordable fuel, stronger reserves, rising digitization and a buoyant capital market, Pakistan’s economic outlook is clearly improving--supporting greater confidence, better investment sentiment and more positive momentum for 2026,” he said on social media platform X.
