The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) opened on a positive note, as investors cheered S&P Global’s upgrade of Pakistan’s sovereign credit rating to ‘B—’ from ‘CCC+’. The benchmark KSE-100 Index gained over 500 points during the first half of the trading session on Friday.
At 12pm, the benchmark index was hovering at 139,198.42 level, an increase of 505.76 points or 0.36%.
Buying was observed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and power generation. Index-heavy stocks including HUBCO, ARL, MARI, OGDC, PPL and SNGPL traded in the green.
In a key development, S&P Global raised Pakistan’s sovereign credit rating to ‘B-’ from ‘CCC+’ and placed it on a ‘stable’ outlook on Thursday, saying the country’s finances and reserves had been stabilised by International Monetary Fund support.
“The S&P upgrade, coming shortly after Fitch raised its rating in Apr’25, is expected to enhance investor confidence, reduce external borrowing costs, and improve Pakistan’s prospects of re-entering international bond markets,” said Arif Habib Limited (AHL).
Moreover, the market anticipates a policy rate cut in the upcoming Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) scheduled to be held on Wednesday.
“As the SBP meets on July 30, 2025, we expect a 50bps rate cut to bring the policy rate down to 10.5%,” said AHL.
“With inflation down, the external position currently in a manageable zone, and yields already on a downward slope, conditions seem ripe for further monetary easing, though some risks cast a shadow,” it said.
On Thursday, PSX witnessed a bearish trend as investor confidence took a hit due to mounting macroeconomic concerns. Surging inflation, coupled with the expected rupee slide on higher imports, further fueled the negative sentiments.
The benchmark KSE-100 index lost 561.69 points, or 0.40%, to settle at 138,692.67 points.
Internationally, Asian shares eased from highs on Friday, with Japanese markets retreating from a record peak, as investors locked in profits ahead of a crucial week that includes US President Donald Trump’s tariff deadline and a host of central bank meetings.
The dollar gained against the yen after bouncing off a two-week low on Thursday, helped by some firm US economic data, while Japan’s currency was weighed down by political uncertainty amid media reports Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will step down.
Benchmark Japanese government bond yields hovered just below the highest since 2008.
Japan’s broad Topix index, which had jumped more than 5% over the previous two sessions to reach an all-time high, pulled back 0.7%.
The Nikkei slipped 0.5% from Thursday’s one-year high.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.5% and mainland Chinese blue chips declined 0.2%. Australia’s equity benchmark declined 0.5%.
At the same time, US S&P 500 futures added 0.2%, after the cash index edged up slightly to a new record closing high overnight, buoyed by robust earnings from Google parent Alphabet.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq also marked a record high.
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe edged down 0.1%, but remained just below an all-time peak from Thursday.
This is an intra-day update
