Bullish momentum continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), as the benchmark KSE-100 Index closed at a new record high on Monday, the last day of the fiscal year 2024-25.
Positive trading was seen throughout the trading session, pushing the KSE-100 to an intra-day high of 125,748.58.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 125,627.31 level, an increase of 1,248.25 points or 1%.
“The local bourse wrapped up the fiscal year on a high note, carrying forward last week’s bullish momentum with another stellar performance,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.
The upbeat sentiment was fuelled by strong fiscal year-end flows and a significant external trigger — China’s rollover of $3.4 billion in commercial loans, according to Topline.
“This move helped Pakistan meet the IMF’s foreign reserves requirement of around $14 billion, reinforcing investor confidence.”
Heavyweights like FFC, HBL, BAHL, UBL, POL, FABL, and PKGP led the charge, collectively contributing +724 points to the index, it added.
“Investor confidence got further strengthened with Bloomberg reporting that Pakistan led global emerging markets (EMs) in default risk reduction, with probability falling from 59% to 47%—the sharpest drop worldwide. In addition, billion-dollar listed firms in Pakistan rose to 11 from 6 since Dec 2023 to date,” Ali Najib, Deputy Head of Trading at Arif Habib Ltd, said in a commentary.
During the previous week, the PSX witnessed a stellar performance as the KSE-100 Index jumped by 4,355 points, or 3.6%, on a week-on-week basis to close at then all-time high of 124,379 points on Friday.
The sharp rally was largely driven by easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and the smooth passage of the federal budget in the National Assembly.
The KSE-100 increased by 5% on month-on-month (MoM) basis in the last month of FY25.
“This gain can be attributed to approval by federal cabinet to retire country’s largest-ever financial restructuring plan to retire circular debt in the power sector of Rs1.275trn over the next six years,” Topline said.
On year-on-year (YoY) basis, the KSE-100 was up 60% in PKR terms and 57% in USD terms in FY25.
“Over the past two years (FY24 and FY25), the PSX has recorded a total gain of 203% in PKR terms and 206% in USD terms, thanks to the macroeconomic stability country has achieved with the support of the IMF programme,” Topline said.
The other factors contributing to the rally were completion of the first IMF review of March 2025, aggressive monetary easing from 20.5% to 11%, improvement in country’s credit rating by Fitch from CCC+ to B-, improving macro indicators, and improved market liquidity amidst diversion flows from fixed income to equities, it added.
Internationally, Asia shares firmed on Monday as signs of progress in a trade standoff between the United States and Canada helped risk sentiment, while the dollar dipped on concerns U.S. jobs data will show enough weakness to justify larger rate cuts.
Canada on Sunday said it had rescinded its digital services tax in a bid to advance trade negotiations, bowing to pressure from President Donald Trump.
The talks are aimed at getting a deal done by July 21, extending Trump’s original July 9 deadline for his “reciprocal” tariffs.
Officials have suggested most deals could now be done by the September 1 Labor Day holiday.
Investors were also keeping a wary eye on the progress of a huge U.S. tax-cutting and spending bill slowly making its way through the Senate, with signs it may not make it by Trump’s preferred July 4 deadline.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill would add $3.3 trillion to the nation’s debt, testing foreign appetite for US Treasuries.
There was no doubting the demand for the U.S. tech sector and megacap growth stocks including Nvidia, Alphabet and Amazon.
Nasdaq futures rose another 0.4%, while S&P 500 e-minis added 0.3%.
EUROSTOXX 50 futures rose 0.2%, while FTSE futures were flat and DAX futures gained 0.3%.
The bullish sentiment spilled over into Japan’s Nikkei which rose 1.6%, while South Korean stocks gained 0.8%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipped 0.2%.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee posted marginal decline against the US dollar, depreciating 0.02% in the interbank market on Monday. At close, the currency settled at 283.76, a loss of Re0.04 against the greenback.
Volume on the all-share index increased to 1,144.55 million from 773.80 million recorded in the previous close.
The value of shares decline to Rs35.24 billion from Rs37.57 billion in the previous session.
WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 139.89 million shares, followed by Kohinoor Spining with 96.37 million shares, and TPL Properties with 51.66 million shares.
Shares of 481 companies were traded on Monday, of which 297 registered an increase, 152 recorded a fall, while 32 remained unchanged.
