Stocks maintained their upward momentum at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index closing above the 188,000 amid expectations of an interest rate cut on Tuesday.
The benchmark index opened with a sharp decline in the morning, hitting an intra-day low of 187,192.01 during the opening hours of trading.
This was followed by a strong recovery, with prices steadily moving higher into the early afternoon.
Although there was some profit-taking later, the index remained bullish, hitting an intra-day high of 188,958.37.
At close, the KSE-100 settled at 188,621.78, an increase of 860.09 points or 0.46%.
Select index heavyweights — ENGROH, PPL, SAZEW, OGDC, and PSO — collectively added 661 points to the benchmark. However, losses in MEBL, HUBC, and UBL partially offset these gains, collectively dragging the index down by 249 points, brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.
The rally comes amid growing expectations of a policy rate cut in the upcoming Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting scheduled for January 26, following signals of further monetary easing from recent Treasury bills and Pakistan Investment Bond auctions.
In a key development, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered Pakistan’s economic growth outlook, cutting its GDP projection for the current fiscal year to 3.2%, down from 3.6% estimated in its October 2025 World Economic Outlook.
The Fund, in its latest report, estimated Pakistan’s GDP growth at three percent in 2025, which is projected to grow to 3.2% in the outgoing fiscal year 2026 and 4.1% in 2027.
On Monday, the PSX extended its bull run, closing at another all-time high, as across-the-board buying, optimism over better-than-expected corporate earnings, and growing expectations of a policy rate cut in the upcoming MPC meeting drove investor sentiment.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index surged 2,662.86 points or 1.44% to close at 187,761.69 points.
Globally, Asian stocks fell on Tuesday, while the dollar remained under pressure and the US Treasury yields climbed to their highest level in more than four months, as a resurgence of trade-war concerns hit risk sentiment and sparked selling in US assets.
US President Donald Trump’s push to take control of Greenland by threatening additional tariffs – a move that risks fuelling trade tensions with Europe – has led to uncertainty in the markets with investors scurrying for safe-haven assets, including the Swiss Franc and gold.
The tensions have revived talk of the ‘Sell America’ trade that emerged in the aftermath of his sweeping “Liberation Day” levies last April, where investors sell US stocks, dollar and Treasuries. That trade appeared to be gathering momentum in Asian hours on Tuesday.
Nasdaq and S&P 500 futures slid 1% in early trade, while the dollar remained vulnerable and the yield on the 10-year US Treasury note rose to 4.265%, its highest level since early September.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.44% lower, inching further away from the record highs it hit last week.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee recorded improvement against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Tuesday. At close, the local currency settled at 279.91, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback.
Volume on the all-share index increased to 1,225.81 million from 1,198.65 million recorded in the previous close. The value of shares declined to Rs63.90 billion from Rs63.80 billion in the previous session.
Hascol Petrol was the volume leader with 113.00 million shares, followed by K-Electric Ltd with 70.45 million shares, and Treet Corp with 58.61 million shares.
Shares of 240 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 240 registered an increase, 213 recorded a fall, and 34 remained unchanged.
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