KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended the week on a strong note, with the benchmark KSE-100 index climbing 2,350 points across five sessions to close at an all-time high of 134,299.77 on Friday.
This marked the third consecutive week of gains, reflecting sustained bullish sentiment.
During the week, the index fluctuated within a 2,605-point range, touching a low of 132,326 and peaking at 134,931. The rally was underpinned by robust corporate earnings, increased equity allocations by mutual funds, and improving macroeconomic indicators.
Friday Session Highlights Investor optimism persisted on Friday, as the index added 517.42 points (0.39%) in a single session. Trading activity remained elevated, with 765.1 million shares changing hands and a traded value of Rs40.2 billion.
Market Capitalisation & Volumes Market capitalisation rose by Rs377 billion during the week, reaching Rs16,288 billion, while total weekly share turnover stood at 4.73 billion shares.
According to analysts at Topline Securities, the current rally has been bolstered by a noticeable shift in investor preference from fixed income to equities, as confirmed by data from the National Clearing Company.
Key Stock Performances Among top performers, United Bank Limited (UBL) stood out, announcing a 99% YoY increase in 1HCY25 earnings per share to Rs26.07, alongside a surprise dividend of Rs19 per share. UBL’s stock rose 2.4% on Friday alone, significantly driving the index upward. Other notable gainers included Hub Power Company (+1.6%) and Millat Tractors (+2.76%), which collectively added over 300 points to the index.
However, select banking stocks faced selling pressure:
Bank AL Habib fell 3.3%,
MCB Bank declined 1.04%,
HBL lost 1.22%.
Macroeconomic Support Investor sentiment was further strengthened by a rise in foreign exchange reserves to $20 billion, 38% YoY growth in auto sales for FY25, and upward revisions in development spending, now budgeted at Rs1.05 trillion for FY25. Record remittances of $38.3 billion also acted as a tailwind for the market.
According to Ahsan Mehanti, MD at Arif Habib Corp, these macroeconomic positives have contributed significantly to the PSX’s upward trajectory.
Market Breadth & Activity Out of 477 companies traded on Friday:
220 advanced,
228 declined,
29 remained unchanged.
Despite the mixed breadth, the net directional bias remained positive, with 55 advancing and 45 declining stocks influencing the index.
Top Volume Leaders
The Bank of Punjab led with 94.1 million shares,
Aisha Steel Mills followed with 25.1 million,
Kohinoor Spinning Mills recorded 23.6 million shares traded.
Meanwhile, foreign investors remained net sellers, offloading equities worth Rs350 million.
Outlook In its weekly report, Arif Habib Limited (AHL) projected near-term support for the KSE-100 around 132,000, with a potential test of 136,000 if the current momentum sustains.
