Buying returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) after the government managed to pass the Finance Bill, 2025, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining nearly 1,600 points during the first half of the trading session on Friday.
At 12pm, the benchmark index was hovering at 123,628.23 level, a gain of 1,581.77 points or 1.30%.
Across-the-board buying was observed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and refinery traded in the green. Index-heavy stocks including MARI, OGDC, POL, PPL, PSO, SSGC, HBL MCB and UBL traded in the green.
The National Assembly on Thursday passed the Finance Bill, 2025, with a total outlay of Rs17.57 trillion, for fiscal year 2025-26, incorporating certain amendments, with the support of its coalition partners.
The bill was passed clause by clause, with all opposition-proposed amendments rejected.
On Thursday, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) experienced a turbulent session on Thursday as the benchmark KSE-100 Index plunged amid persistent selling pressure and cautious investor sentiment.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index lost 715.18 points, closing at 122,046.46 points.
Internationally, Asia shares hit their highest level in more than three years on Friday as they tracked a Wall Street rally, though the dollar struggled on concerns about the Federal Reserve’s independence and expectations for early rate cuts.
Stock indexes worldwide look set to end the week on a positive note, with worries about tensions in the Middle East and uncertainty over tariffs and trade deals on the back burner for now.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan touched its strongest level since November 2021 early in the session. It last traded 0.2% higher and is set to clock a 3% gain for the week.
Japan’s Nikkei jumped 1.5% and surpassed the 40,000 mark for the first time in five months.
Reasons for the upbeat mood included news that Washington has reached an agreement with Beijing on how to expedite rare earth shipments to the United States.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also said on Thursday that he has asked Republicans in Congress to scrap the Section 899 retaliatory tax proposal from their tax and spending bill after Washington reached an agreement with Group of Seven industrial countries.
This is an intra-day update
