Dubai’s DP World named a new chairman and chief executive officer on Friday, replacing its former leader Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, after the Epstein files revealed frequent correspondence between him and the convicted sex offender.

“DP World announced the appointment of His Excellency Essa Kazim as chairman of its Board of Directors and the appointment of Yuvraj Narayan as Group Chief Executive Officer,” the group said in a statement published by the Dubai media office.

The statement did not mention Sulayem.

Described by Jeffrey Epstein as one of his “most trusted friends”, Sulayem was group chairman and chief executive officer of DP World, one of the largest port operators on the globe.

He is cited more than 9,400 times in the documents recently released by the US Department of Justice, which revealed close ties between the two men.

They maintained regular correspondence from 2009 to 2018, exchanging messages on intimate matters, meetings, introductions and business opportunities.

The correspondence suggests he visited the US sex offender in his home several times, including on his island.

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Pakistan’s benchmark stock exchange, KSE-100, closed in the red on Friday, down 908.91 points (0.5 per cent) from its previous close of 180,512.64 points.

The top active stocks were led by K-Electric Limited, rising 4.02pc to Rs8.55 at a volume of 131,137,671, followed by Pakistan International Bulk Terminal, which rose 0.72pc to Rs19.53 at a volume of 34,704,501, and Worldcall Telecom Limited, which fell 1.21pc to Rs1.63 at a volume of 33,828,798.

The top advancers were led by LSE Capital Limited, which rose to Rs2.30, a 25.68pc increase, followed by 786 Investments Limited, which rose to Rs16.25, a 10.02pc increase, and Apna Microfinance Bank Limited, which advanced to Rs21.74, a 10.02pc increase.

The top decliners were led by Grays Leasing Limited, falling 9.65pc to Rs20.78, followed by Saritow Spinning Mills Limited, falling 9.57pc to Rs28.17, and Shahtaj Sugar Mills Limited, falling 9.10pc to Rs152.71.

In company news, according to Topline Securities, Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) reported its 2QFY26 results, posting earnings of Rs20.3bn, down 26pc year-on-year while remaining largely flat on a quarter-on-quarter basis (up 1pc). The brokerage house noted that the year-on-year decline is primarily driven by lower hydrocarbon production and weaker oil prices. Pakistan Petroleum Limited stock fell 0.38pc to Rs236.27.

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Short-term inflation in Pakistan, measured by the Sensitive Price Index (SPI) for the week ending on February 12, decreased 0.59 per cent, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

The SPI-based inflation has been on an upward trend for the past few weeks, mainly driven by a surge in prices of perishable products, pulses, and meat.

Major decreases noted during this time period were in the prices of eggs (17.61pc), followed by tomatoes (12.02pc), chicken (6.34pc), onions (2.73pc), potatoes (2.49pc), salt powder (1.69pc), LPG (1.57pc), wheat flour (1.31pc), and sugar (1.12pc).

Major increases were in the prices of bananas (7.62pc), garlic (4.35pc), pulse mash (2.69pc), chilies powder (1.68pc), mutton (0.80pc), beef (0.37pc), mustard oil (0.34pc), shirting (0.31pc), cigarettes (0.24pc), vegetable ghee 1Kg (0.08pc), and georgette (0.02pc).

The year-on-year data show a 4.26pc increase.

The major influences contirbuting to this annual trend were an increase in tomatoes (73.36pc), wheat flour (33.82pc), gas charges for Q1 (29.85pc), chilli powder (15.20pc), beef (12.70pc), eggs (11.76pc), bananas (11.67pc), firewood (11.40pc), LPG (10.73pc), powdered milk (9.89pc), shirting (8.82pc) and gur (8.81pc).

Major decreases were seen in the prices of potatoes (44.68pc), garlic (30.78pc), pulse gram (23.81pc), onions (22.04pc), chicken (20.13pc), tea lipton (13.95pc), salt powder (12.52pc), pulse masoor (10.88pc), and petrol (1.33pc)

The weekly SPI base year 2015–16=100, covers 17 urban centres and tracks the prices of 51 essential items across all expenditure groups and quintiles.

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