Investor confidence returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday after the successful passage of the Finance Bill 2025, triggering a strong buying spree. The benchmark KSE-100 Index surged by nearly 3,200 points during the first half of the trading session.
As of 2:35 PM, the KSE-100 Index was trading at 125,231.84 points, marking a significant increase of 3,185.38 points or 2.61%.
Widespread buying activity was witnessed across major sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration, oil marketing companies (OMCs), and refineries. Prominent index-heavy stocks such as MARI, OGDC, POL, PPL, PSO, SSGC, HBL, MCB, and UBL were all trading in the green.
The Finance Bill 2025, with a total outlay of Rs17.57 trillion for the fiscal year 2025-26, was passed by the National Assembly on Thursday with support from coalition partners. The bill was approved clause by clause, with all proposed amendments from the opposition being rejected.
The surge comes after a volatile session on Thursday when the PSX witnessed a sharp downturn due to persistent selling pressure and investor caution. The benchmark index had lost 715.18 points, closing at 122,046.46.
On the global front, Asian stocks reached their highest levels in over three years, buoyed by a Wall Street rally. The dollar, however, remained under pressure amid concerns over the Federal Reserve’s independence and expectations of early interest rate cuts.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan reached its highest point since November 2021, last trading 0.2% higher and on track for a weekly gain of 3%. Japan’s Nikkei also jumped 1.5%, surpassing the 40,000 mark for the first time in five months.
The upbeat sentiment was supported by news of a breakthrough agreement between Washington and Beijing to expedite rare earth shipments to the U.S. Additionally, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that he had requested the removal of the Section 899 retaliatory tax proposal from a congressional bill, following an agreement with the Group of Seven (G7) industrial nations.