Bulls continued to strengthen their grip on the Pakistan Stock Exchange during intra-day trading on Friday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index advancing more than 400 points in the first half of the session. The upward move extended the market’s recent rally, reflecting sustained investor confidence driven by supportive macroeconomic signals and strong sectoral participation.
At around 12:00pm, the KSE-100 Index was hovering at 172,379.98, marking an increase of 419.34 points, or 0.24 percent, compared to the previous close. Market participants maintained a positive tone as buying activity remained broad-based across several index-heavy sectors.
Gains were led by cement, chemical, commercial banking, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration, oil marketing companies, and power generation stocks. Index-heavy names such as HUBCO, PSO, SNGPL, MARI, OGDC, POL, PPL, HBL, MCB, MEBL, and NBP were trading in positive territory, contributing significantly to the benchmark’s advance. The participation of heavyweight stocks suggested institutional interest and continued momentum rather than short-term speculative activity.
On the corporate front, investor sentiment was further supported by merger and acquisition-related developments. Rafhan Maize Products Company Limited announced that it had received a firm intention from Nishat Group–linked entities and members of the Mansha family to acquire control and up to 75.69 percent of the company’s voting shares. The development added to the broader optimism around corporate activity and strategic transactions at the PSX.
The intra-day gains followed a strong performance in the previous session. On Thursday, the benchmark index surged to a new historic closing high, advancing by 1,646.79 points or 0.97 percent. The rally was underpinned by declining Pakistan Investment Bond yields, encouraging macroeconomic indicators, and increased merger and acquisition activity across key sectors of the market.
International market cues also provided support to local sentiment. Asian equity markets rebounded on Friday, tracking a recovery on Wall Street driven by a turnaround in technology stocks. Investors across the region were closely watching developments related to global monetary policy, particularly expectations around a potential interest rate hike by the Bank of Japan.
Market sentiment received an additional boost from a sharper-than-expected slowdown in US consumer price inflation, which eased to 2.7 percent. However, analysts cautioned that the data may have been distorted by the impact of the recent US government shutdown and should be interpreted carefully. As a result, expectations around US Federal Reserve policy shifted only marginally, with markets pricing in a 27 percent probability of a rate cut in January and a higher likelihood of easing by March.
In Japan, markets were factoring in a high probability of a rate hike by the Bank of Japan, with investors anticipating a quarter-point increase to 0.75 percent. Any signal of further tightening beyond that could support the Japanese yen but also exert pressure on government bond markets.
Regional equity markets reflected cautious optimism. Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.6 percent, while South Korea’s market climbed 1.2 percent, supported by strong performance from chipmaker Micron Technology. MSCI’s broad index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.2 percent.
Back home, analysts noted that the PSX’s continued strength reflects a combination of local liquidity, easing yields, and improving sentiment around corporate earnings and strategic activity. As the session progresses, market participants are expected to remain focused on volume trends, global cues, and stock-specific developments to assess whether the intra-day momentum can be sustained into the close.
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