The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued its record-breaking momentum on Friday, driven by rising investor confidence amid easing inflation and growing expectations of further monetary policy support.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index crossed the historic 179,000-point mark for the first time during intraday trading, reflecting sustained bullish sentiment in the market.
The bourse opened on a strong note, with investors positioning themselves ahead of upcoming corporate earnings announcements, a strengthening Pakistani rupee, and optimism surrounding potential policy easing by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
The positive outlook followed a softer Consumer Price Index (CPI) reading for December, reinforcing expectations that the central bank may continue its accommodative stance.
During the session, the KSE-100 Index reached an intraday high of 179,016.88 points, gaining 2,661.39 points or 1.51 percent. Although the index later pared some gains, it remained in positive territory, touching an intraday low of 176,709.51 points, still up 354.02 points or 0.2 percent.
Global financial news outlet Bloomberg noted that Pakistan’s inflation rose at a slower pace than anticipated in December, supporting the SBP’s recent decision to cut its policy rate to a three-year low to stimulate economic growth.
According to the report, food inflation eased significantly, with prices rising 3.24 percent in December compared to 5.53 percent in November. Overall CPI inflation stood at 5.6 percent year-on-year, down from 6.1 percent the previous month.
Despite trade disruptions linked to tensions with Afghanistan and border restrictions, alternative supply channels helped keep food inflation under control, contributing to relatively subdued price pressures.
The bullish trend followed Thursday’s strong close, when the KSE-100 Index surged 2,301.17 points, or 1.32 percent, to settle at 176,355.49 points.
Trading activity remained robust, with 1.402 billion shares exchanged in the ready market, amounting to Rs48.42 billion in value. Of the 485 active companies, 337 advanced, 116 declined, and 32 closed unchanged, underscoring broad-based market optimism.
