The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) reached a new all-time high on Friday as hopes of a policy rate cut lifted investor sentiment. The benchmark KSE-100 index gained 723.44 points, or 0.54%, pushing it to a historic 134,505.78 points during intraday trading. The market started strong and moved actively between 134,130.40 and 134,553.26, showing confidence among market participants.
Trading volume also remained strong, with over 60 million shares exchanged by midday. A day earlier, the PSX had posted an even larger gain of 1,205.36 points, or 0.91%, closing at 133,782.35. Market activity has remained vibrant, with 941 million shares traded on Thursday, compared to 905 million the previous day. The total value of shares rose to Rs 36.06 billion from Rs 30.53 billion.
A total of 479 companies traded their shares in the session. Among them, 260 saw gains, 195 recorded losses, while the share prices of 24 remained unchanged. This consistent positive movement reflects increasing investor confidence in economic stability and expectations of reduced borrowing costs.
The optimism was further supported by news of Pakistan’s rising foreign exchange reserves. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported that its reserves surged by $1.77 billion during the week ending July 4, 2025. This brought SBP’s total to $14.5 billion, mainly due to official inflows, though specific sources were not disclosed.
Pakistan’s total liquid foreign reserves reached $20.03 billion after a $1.94 billion weekly increase. Commercial bank reserves also grew by $163.2 million, reaching $5.53 billion. Since the fiscal year began, SBP reserves have increased by 59.99%, reflecting stronger economic backing and contributing to the PSX’s bullish momentum.