The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) sustained its bullish momentum during the outgoing week, with the benchmark KSE-100 index touching a historic intra-day high of 151,262 points before settling at 149,493, up 3,001 points, or 2.05% week-on-week (WoW).
The rally was fueled by strong corporate earnings, robust investor participation in T-bill and Sukuk auctions and improved macroeconomic indicators, including a narrower current account deficit, stable foreign currency reserves and marginal Pakistani rupee appreciation.
On a day-on-day basis, the PSX kicked off the week on a bullish note, resuming its northbound journey and closing strongly above 148k at 148,197 points, up 1,705 points (+1.16%).
On the following day, Tuesday, the KSE-100 index sustained its bullish streak, briefly unlocking the 150k milestone intra-day before closing the session higher, which reflected renewed investor optimism.
The index etched history on Wednesday by closing above the 150,000 mark for the first time at 150,591, higher by 820 points (+0.55%). On Thursday, after three consecutive winning sessions, the bourse finally faced a profit-taking wave that dragged the KSE-100 into the red. It closed at 149,225, down 1,346 points, or 0.90%.
However, the market traded sideways at the end of the week as the KSE-100 oscillated in both directions before settling at 149,493 (+258 points, or +0.17%).
"The KSE-100 index extended its bullish streak, hitting an all-time high of 150,591 points midweek before closing at 149,493, with gains of 3,001 points (+2.05% WoW) on the back of strong buying interest supported by the ongoing results season," Arif Habib Limited (AHL) noted in its weekly report.
The current account deficit narrowed to $254 million in July 2025, reflecting a 37% year-on-year (YoY) decline from the deficit of $348 million. In addition to this, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) raised Rs527 billion in the T-bill auction against the target of Rs450 billion, with strong participation valuing at Rs1,314 billion. Yields remained broadly unchanged, except for a marginal two-basis-point decline in the six-month tenor, AHL said.
Moreover, the government of Pakistan's Ijarah Sukuk auction raised Rs229 billion against the target of Rs200 billion, with strong participation of Rs627 billion and cut-off rentals ranging from 10.44% to 12%. Furthermore, power generation dipped 5% YoY to 14,123 gigawatt hours (GWh) due to lower seasonal demand, though the generation cost dropped 13% YoY to Rs7.78 per kilowatt hour (kWh), staying below reference levels.
Pakistan's forex reserves rose to $19.6 billion (up $74 million WoW), including the SBP's reserves of $14.3 billion (up $13 million), with import cover steady at 2.3 months. The rupee appreciated marginally by 0.05% WoW, closing at 281.92 against the US dollar, AHL said.
The sectors that contributed positively were banks (1,626 points), cement (783 points), pharma (214 points), leather & tanneries (116 points) and auto assembler (115 points). Meanwhile, sector-wise, the negative contribution came from fertiliser (243 points), miscellaneous (49 points), investment banks (48 points), chemical (34 points) and OMCs (30 points).
Scrip-wise, the positive contribution came from Bank AL Habib (676 points), Lucky Cement (336 points), Meezan Bank (237 points), UBL (229 points) and Bank Alfalah (209 points), whereas negative contributors were HBL (191 points), Fauji Fertiliser Company (150 points), Engro Fertilisers (65 points), Engro Holdings (61 points) and Pakgen Power (56 points).
Average daily volumes arrived at 790 million shares (up 31% WoW), while the average traded value settled at $159 million (up 10.8%).
Commenting on the impact of macro news on market movements, Abdul Basit of JS Global mentioned that Pakistan was focusing on diversifying external financing avenues and plans to tap into climate-related funding through the issuance of Sustainable Bonds and Panda Bonds over the next three years.
Additionally, he noted, the government was considering renegotiating its liquefied natural gas (LNG) contract with Qatar amid expectations of surplus cargoes.
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