Karachi, June 27, 2025: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) surged to an all-time high on Friday as investor sentiment received a strong boost from renewed US-Pakistan trade engagement and the National Assembly’s approval of the federal budget for FY2025–26.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index closed at 124,379.06, marking a gain of 2,332.60 points or 1.91% from the previous close of 122,046.46. The index touched an intraday high of 125,285.05, while trading volumes remained robust with over 220 million shares changing hands.
“Optimism has returned due to macroeconomic rerating and improved global sentiment,” said AAH Soomro, an independent investment and economic analyst. “Valuations are still attractive relative to fixed income assets,” he added.
Investor confidence was lifted after the Rs17.57 trillion federal budget for FY2025–26 was passed by the National Assembly on Thursday. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb introduced key amendments to the Finance Bill 2026, including:
- Empowering the finance committee to authorize arrests in cases of tax fraud exceeding Rs50 million under the Sales Tax Act.
- A revised income tax structure for salaried individuals:
- Income up to Rs600,000 remains tax-exempt.
- Incomes between Rs600,000–1.2 million taxed at 1%.
- Higher brackets taxed on a fixed slab basis, up to Rs346,000 for income between Rs3.2 million and Rs4.1 million.
The rally was further underpinned by optimism surrounding US-Pakistan trade talks, with both sides advancing toward a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) or possibly a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA).
Earlier this week, Finance Minister Aurangzeb held a virtual meeting with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, where both parties expressed confidence in concluding negotiations soon. The talks follow Field Marshal Asim Munir’s high-profile visit to Washington, which helped intensify diplomatic and economic cooperation.
Investor sentiment was also buoyed by rising inflows from overseas Pakistanis through the Roshan Digital Account (RDA), which has now crossed $10.38 billion in cumulative inflows since its launch in September 2020.
- In May 2025 alone, RDA inflows rose 13% month-on-month to reach $201 million.
- The number of digital accounts has increased to 823,224.
- According to Saad Hanif, head of research at Ismail Iqbal Securities, $6.65 billion of RDA inflows have been invested locally, primarily in Naya Pakistan Certificates and Roshan Equity, while $1.95 billion remains repatriable.
The sharp rally comes after a mild correction on Thursday, when the KSE-100 Index had dropped by 715.18 points (0.58%) to close at 122,046.46. Friday’s recovery wiped out the previous day’s losses and pushed the index to new record territory.
