PSX surges as KSE-100 gains over 500 points

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) observed a bullish trend on Friday, as the standard KSE-100 Index climbed 514.62 points, or 0.37 percent.

The benchmark index settled at 139,207.29 at the closing, as against 138,692.67 on the last trading day.

Trading volume stayed strong, with 634.81 million shares exchanged, somewhat lower than the 648.80 million traded earlier. The total market capitalisation stood at Rs24.61 billion, decreased from Rs28.12 billion.

As many as 479 companies participated in the market, out of which 211 experienced gains, while 236 remaining had to face losses. In addition, 32 companies had no change throughout the trading day.

The top three leading trading firms based on volume were Bank of Punjab, trading 50.26 million shares for Rs13.6, Fauji Foods Limited with 48.87 million shares priced at Rs16.29, and Aisha Steel Mill, which experienced 35.59 million shares changing hands at Rs12.34.

Among the leading performers, Unilever Pakistan Foods witnessed a notable upswing, going up by Rs529.12 and closing at Rs34,139.55. Atlas Honda Limited also made progress, rising by Rs61.39 to finish at Rs1,160.25.

On the contrary, PIA Holding Company Limited saw a significant drop, going down Rs1,642.97 to settle at Rs31,934.62, while Nestle Pakistan Limited declined by Rs174.04, closing at Rs7,699.77.

This climb in the Pakistan Stock Exchange comes among a market uptrend, with the KSE-100 Index update showing a 13.04 percent monthly gain and a 76.84 percent year-on-year increase.

Earlier, Ahmed Chinoy, Director of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) and Chairman of the Pakistan Cloth Merchants Association, issued an urgent call for the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to reduce the policy rate to 6 percent in the upcoming monetary policy announcement.

Highlighting Pakistan’s economic challenges, Ahmed Chinoy emphasised that declining inflation and easing external account pressures present a critical opportunity to stimulate growth.

He argued that the current high-interest rate environment is stifling productive sectors, particularly small and medium enterprises, exporters, and manufacturers, who face soaring borrowing costs amidst post-COVID recovery, supply chain disruptions, and high utility expenses.