Friday, January 23 2026

Positive sentiment at bourse, KSE-100 crosses 188,000 mark
Buying interest was observed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 crossing the 188,000 level during the opening minutes of trading on Friday. At 9:30am, the benchmark index was hovering at 188,048.54, an increase of 360.38 points or 0.19%. Buying was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refinery. Index-heavy stocks, including ARL, HUBCO, OGDC, POL, PPL, SNGPL, FFC, MCB, MEBL, NBP and UBL, traded in the green. On Thursday, the Pak-Qatar General Takaful Limited (PKGTL) – the country’s first initial public offering (IPO) of the year 2026 – created history by recording “the highest oversubscription” of 21 times in the rupee term at the PSX.
Related news categories: business economic-indicators psx stock-exchanges

Rs124.2bn spent to improve telecoms infrastructure: minister
Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja on Thursday said that a total of Rs 124.2 billion from the Universal Service Fund (USF) has been utilised across the provinces to strengthen telecommunication infrastructure and expand digital access in underserved and remote areas. In written reply to a questions asked by MPs in National Assembly, she said that Rs 52.31 billion funds utilized in Balochistan, Rs 26.032 billion in Punjab, Rs 24.23 billion in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Rs 20.203 billion in Sindh, Rs 1.016 billion in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) and Rs 409.9 million in multiple provinces. In another written reply, the minister said that during the first five months of financial year 2025-26 (July-November), Information and Communication Techno-logy(ICT) export remittances surged 18.5 percent, reaching USD 1.799 billion compared to USD 1.518 billion achieved during the corresponding period last year (FY 2024-25).
Related news categories: business economic-indicators tech-comm

High cost of doing business: Exporters unable to match regional competitors
Pakistan’s business community is facing a serious competitiveness crisis as the cost of doing business in Pakistan is 34 percent higher compared to regional countries, which has severely undermined the ability of local industries to compete in international markets, stated Pakistan Business Forum (PBF) Chief Organiser Ahmad Jawad. He said that due to irrational taxation, excessive energy costs, and currency instability, Pakistan’s exporters are unable to match regional competitors, resulting in stagnant exports since 2022 despite global trade recovery in several sectors. In the present scenario, Pakistani businesses are struggling to survive, let alone expand exports, as their cost structures remain misaligned with regional economies such as Bangladesh, India, and Vietnam.
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Forex reserves move up by USD10m
Pakistan’s total liquid foreign exchange reserves posted a slight increase of USD 10 million during the last week. According to official data release by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), foreign exchange reserves held by the SBP rose to USD 16.088billion during the week ended on Jan 16, 2026, compared to USD 16.072billion recorded a week earlier on Jan 9, 2026. The increase of nearly USD 16 million provided limited but positive support to overall reserves. In contrast, net foreign reserves held by commercial banks declined slightly USD 6 to USD 5.171billion from USD 5.177billion in the previous week, showing a marginal weekly drawdown.
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Global Commodities Holdings launches trading in nickel premiums
UK-based Global Commodities Holdings Ltd (GCH) launched trading in premiums for physical nickel on Thursday after an initial nickel product last year failed to gain traction, the company said. Last year, GCH started trading in fixed-price nickel products, providing an additional venue to the Shanghai Futures Exchange and London Metal Exchange. The LME lost the confidence of many users after a nickel crisis in 2022, but LME nickel volumes have recently rebounded. Fixed-priced nickel trading saw modest interest, with participants citing the lack of tools to hedge their price risk, GCH told Reuters. The new nickel offering will allow buyers and sellers to mitigate the price risk by fixing physical prices in relation to the average settlement price on the LME, the world’s biggest trading venue for nickel and other industrial metals.
Related news categories: business misc