Moaaz Manzoor

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) delivered a strong weekly performance, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index advancing sharply as new-year buying, rallies in heavyweight stocks, and supportive macroeconomic developments boosted investor sentiment.

The KSE-100 Index climbed from 179,035 points last week to close at 184,410 points, registering a gain of 5,375 points, or 3.0% on a week-on-week basis. During the week, the index touched a high of 187,905 points and a low of 179,536 points before settling higher by the close. The rally was largely driven by renewed buying interest in index heavyweights, underpinned by positive company-specific triggers and improving macro indicators.

On a sectoral basis, Banks led contributions to the index, adding 3,037 points, followed by Cement (419 points), Auto Assemblers (270 points), Pharmaceuticals (269 points), and Insurance (258 points). On the downside, selective profit-taking weighed on a few segments, with negative contributions coming from Miscellaneous (152 points), Oil Marketing Companies (42 points), Vanaspati & Allied (2 points), and Close-End Mutual Funds (1 point).

At the scrip level, the largest positive contributions to the index came from MCB (711 points), UBL (655 points), HBL (554 points), MEBL (358 points), and LUCK (297 points). Conversely, index pressure was observed from PSEL (201 points), PSO (93 points), PPL (84 points), SYS (63 points), and OGDC (25 points), which capped broader upside during the week.

Market activity remained robust. Average daily volumes rose 17.7% week-on-week to 1,297 million shares, while average traded value jumped 54.2% to USD281.6 million, indicating healthy investor participation despite intermittent volatility. On the macro front, the government raised PKR979.3 billion through a Treasury-bill auction against a target of PKR850 billion, with strong participation of PKR2,554.6 billion. Yields declined across all tenors by 28.6 to 33.8 basis points, reflecting easing financial conditions.

Commenting on market performance, Ali Najib, Deputy Head of Trading at Arif Habib Limited, said the market experienced volatility during the week, with profit-taking dominating the later sessions. Despite a late-week decline of 1,133 points, or 0.61%, he noted that year-to-date gains for 2026 remained strong at 5.95%, equivalent to 10,356 points, highlighting underlying market strength.

Looking ahead, AKD Securities expects positive momentum in the KSE-100 Index to continue, supported by further monetary easing, an improving external account position, and sustained reform focus amid political stability. The brokerage forecasts the index to reach 263,800 points by December 2026, while noting that any near-term consolidation within the 180,000–187,000 range may provide opportunities to strengthen positions as overall sentiment remains supportive.

Credit: INP-WealthPk