Wednesday, June 10 2026

Equities see volatile start as KSE-100 swings amid Middle East tensions
A volatile trading was observed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index swinging both ways during trading on Wednesday amid escalating tensions in the Middle East. At 12:35pm, the benchmark index was hovering at 170,284.25, down by 46.31 points or 0.03%. A mixed trading pattern was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and power generation. On Tuesday, PSX staged a strong recovery as easing geopolitical tensions between Iran and Israel and a decline in international crude oil prices boosted investor confidence, triggering broad-based buying across key sectors. The benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 1,376.85 points, or 0.81%, to settle at 170,330.56 points.
Related news categories: business economic-indicators psx stock-exchanges

Oil rises nearly 1% as US launches new strikes against Iran, supply tightens
Oil prices climbed about 1% on Wednesday, moving away from a seven-week low touched in the previous session, after the US military launched new strikes against Iran and as market data showed another large draw in US crude stocks. The US military’s strikes on Iranian targets followed after President Donald Trump vowed on Tuesday to respond to the downing of a US Apache attack helicopter overnight, in a fresh escalation that threatens to unravel a fragile ceasefire between Washington and Tehran. Brent futures rose 83 cents, or 0.9% to $92.29 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude climbed 68 cents, or 0.8%, to $88.97.
Related news categories: business misc oilgas-exploration oilgas-marketing

Pakistan’s IT sector: a billion dollars, and still off the map
Sometime this year, Pakistan’s freelancers will earn their first billion dollars. In the ten months to April they brought home around $959 million, nearly half again as much as the year before, while total IT exports reached $3.39 billion in the first nine months of this fiscal year, according to the State Bank and Pakistan Software Export Board figures. There are now more than 2.37 million registered freelancers logging in from bedrooms in Lahore, rented offices in Karachi and rooftops in Faisalabad, billing clients in dollars and bringing the money home. Around the same time, something quieter happened. Lahore appeared on the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s list of global innovation clusters for the first time, joining Islamabad.
Related news categories: business economic-indicators psx stock-exchanges tech-comm

$4.5bn greenfield refinery project planned in Balochistan
SPEC Refinery Pvt Ltd is advancing plans for Pakistan’s first deep-conversion greenfield refinery at Hub, Balochistan, with an estimated investment of $4.5 billion, a move expected to strengthen energy security and spur industrial development in the country. The development was disclosed during a meeting between Federal Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan and a delegation of SPEC Refinery Pvt Ltd, led by its Chairman, Zafar Sheikh, read an official statement on Wednesday. The delegation briefed the minister on the project’s progress and highlighted its strategic importance in strengthening Pakistan’s energy security, reducing reliance on imported refined petroleum products, and promoting industrial development.
Related news categories: business economic-indicators oilgas-marketing refinery

Pakistan registers $4.3bn in remittances for May 2026
The inflow of overseas workers’ remittances into Pakistan stood at $4.251 billion in May 2026, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) data showed on Wednesday. In terms of growth, remittances increased by 20.2% on a month-on-month basis and 15.4% on a year-on-year basis. Cumulatively, workers’ remittances increased by 9.2% to $38.1 billion during Jul-May FY26, compared to $34.9 billion received during the same period last year. “The strong growth was primarily driven by Eid-related seasonal inflows, as remittances typically increase during festive periods,” said Topline Securities in a note.
Related news categories: business economic-indicators misc