The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a strong buying rally on Thursday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining more than 800 points during early trading hours. By 9:45 AM, the index stood at 119,357.67, marking an increase of 821.15 points or 0.69%.
This rally was fueled by across-the-board buying in key sectors such as automobile assemblers, commercial banks, fertilizers, oil & gas exploration, OMCs, power generation, and refineries. Major index movers included NRL, HUBCO, PSO, SNGPL, MARI, OGDC, PPL, HBL, NBP, and UBL, all of which traded in the green.
A significant catalyst behind the surge was confirmation from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) that it received the second tranche of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) worth 760 million, equivalent to $1.02 billion, from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This inflow will reflect in SBP’s foreign reserves for the week ending May 16, 2025.
Additionally, the Power Division is set to brief the IMF virtually on critical energy sector reforms on May 15–16, including updates on circular debt, subsidy structures, carbon levy legislation, and annual rebasing.
The Shehbaz Sharif-led government has undertaken a fresh round of commitments to the IMF, particularly targeting reforms in Pakistan’s power and gas sectors, aiming to stabilize the economy and ensure long-term fiscal sustainability.
Wednesday’s trading session saw mild volatility due to profit-taking, with the KSE-100 Index closing slightly lower by 39.36 points at 118,536.
Globally, markets appeared cautious. US stocks and global equities lost earlier momentum despite optimism earlier in the week due to a US-China trade truce and Middle East investment deals during President Donald Trump’s Gulf tour. Concerns over Trump’s expansive budget proposal, which could significantly raise US debt, contributed to a rise in US Treasury yields, pushing the 10-year yield to a one-month high.
While Asian shares remained mostly flat, and Wall Street futures hovered slightly lower, the PSX showed strong investor confidence, buoyed by positive IMF-related developments and renewed foreign investment interest.
