February 11, 2025 – The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continues to witness an impressive buying rally, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index surging by over 1,500 points during the early hours of trading on Tuesday. At 3:05 pm, the index reached a level of 112,939.18, showing an increase of 1,561.22 points or 1.4% from the previous session, indicating robust investor confidence and market optimism.
The market rally was driven by buying activity across key sectors, including cement, chemicals, commercial banks, fertilizers, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs (Oil Marketing Companies), refineries, and power generation. Prominent index-heavy stocks such as HUBCO, PSO, SHEL, OGDC, POL, PPL, EFERT, HBL, NBP, and UBL saw increased investor participation, contributing significantly to the overall index gain.
This upward momentum in the market follows a strong performance on Monday, when the KSE-100 Index gained over 1,000 points, closing at 111,377.96. Investors appear to be optimistic about the economy, as well as corporate earnings, further driving the positive sentiment across various sectors.
In addition to the bullish market trend, Pakistan’s economy is benefiting from a notable increase in overseas workers’ remittances. According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) data released on Monday, remittances into the country amounted to $3 billion in January 2025, which represents a slight decrease of 3.2% compared to $3.1 billion in December 2024. Despite the month-on-month decline, the remittance inflows during the first seven months of fiscal year 2025 (Jul-Jan FY25) reached a significant $20.8 billion, reflecting a growth of 31.7% compared to $15.8 billion during the same period last year (Jul-Jan FY24). This growth in remittances is expected to provide additional support to Pakistan’s economy, improving foreign exchange reserves and stabilizing the currency.
Globally, the market landscape is also seeing significant developments that are influencing investor sentiment. Gold prices hit a record high, while the US dollar remained firm, and Hong Kong’s stock market advanced to a four-month peak on Tuesday. These movements come amid ongoing shifts in US trade policy, with investors awaiting remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on tariffs and inflation.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index has surged by over 12% in just one month, driven by uncertainty around US trade policies. Former US President Donald Trump’s administration has recently suspended tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports, fueling optimism that trade negotiations could lead to favorable outcomes. Additionally, Trump lifted tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, giving a boost to share prices of US steelmakers. Meanwhile, a 10% tariff on Chinese imports went into effect earlier this month, with retaliatory duties from China impacting US energy exports and other goods.
Although progress toward a formal trade agreement between the US and China remains slow, market expectations are high for a potential breakthrough, which could have far-reaching implications for global trade dynamics. The global markets are also closely monitoring the Federal Reserve’s actions, with most analysts expecting the Fed to maintain steady interest rates at its upcoming meeting in March. The market is speculating that the Fed could cut interest rates by at least 25 basis points in June, a move that could further influence investment strategies and economic growth.
As of now, benchmark 10-year US Treasury yields closed at 4.495%, and were largely unaffected by the public holiday in Japan, with little movement in Asian markets on Tuesday.
Overall, the buying rally at the PSX is part of a broader, positive global trend, signaling optimism for both local and international markets. With steady inflows of remittances and a favorable outlook on global trade, the Pakistani stock market remains an attractive option for investors looking to capitalize on the ongoing upward momentum.