Overview
- The benchmark closed at 187,761.69, up 2,662.86 points or 1.44%, after trading as high as 187,882.
- Most participants in a Topline Research poll expect the SBP to reduce rates, with a 50-basis-point cut seen as the base case.
- SBP foreign-exchange reserves rose by $16 million to $16.072 billion for the week ended January 9, and the bank projects a FY26 current-account gap of 0–1% with reserves at $17.8 billion by June.
- The Finance Ministry outlined an initial plan to tokenise up to $2 billion of domestic government debt, while falling PIB yields and talk of a panda bond supported sentiment.
- Trading volume reached about 1.2 billion shares with mid-caps leading gains, top contributors included Engro, UBL, Hub Power, Fauji Fertiliser, Meezan Bank and Service Industries, and foreign investors were net sellers.