News

SBP lifts curbs on import of essential items

The State Bank of Pakistan has eased imports of several essential items required as raw material and some basic needs of the exporters. A circular issued by the SBP on Tuesday stated that the central bank had decided to withdraw its instructions with effect from Jan 2, 2023, paving the way for acceptance of requests for import transactions already submitted to the SBP. Earlier, under circula

Pakistan lacks infrastructure to import Russian gas

The import of gas from Russia is still a distant dream for Pakistan despite the two countries’ willingness to play ball. Analysts say the renewed discussion around gas imports from Russia won’t amount to much — at least in the short term — for two reasons. One, lack of infrastructure to handle gas imports; and two, inadequate capacity in the existing pipeline system to transport gas from one po

Oil prices inch higher on China demand optimism

Oil prices edged higher on Wednesday on hopes of a recovery in fuel demand as China continues to ease its Covid-19 restrictions, though gains were capped by recession concerns and restarts at some United States energy plants shut by winter storms. Brent futures for February delivery rose nine cents, or 0.1 per cent, to $84.42 a barrel, by 0406 GMT. US crude advanced 10 cents, or 0.1pc, to $79.6

Gold outplays all other assets in 2022

Gold outperformed all major invest­ment avenues by a significant margin in 2022, a research note issued by Topline Securities showed on Tuesday. It was followed by one-year (dollar-based) Naya Pakistan Certificates and the US currency as the best-performing assets in the outgoing year. These three asset classes provided returns that were higher than the estimated average inflation of around

Energy stocks lead rally as KSE-100 gains 486 points

Shares at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) opened the week in green, with the benchmark KSE-100 index gaining 485.96 points. The index closed at 40,155.16 points, up 1.23 per cent. It reached an intraday high of 698.23 points, or 1.76pc, around 10:45am. Analysts attributed the stock market’s rise to the government’s steps to reduce circular debt in the gas sector, including the formation of