The bourse opened Friday on the front foot, crossing the 179,000 mark for the first time and setting a new all-time intraday high as investors positioned for next week’s earnings, rupee gains, and speculation over further State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) policy easing after a softer December Consumer Price Index (CPI) print.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Index climbed to an intraday high of 179,016.88, gaining 2,661.39 points, or 1.51%, and recorded a low of 176,709.51, reflecting a gain of 354.02 points, or 0.2%.

“Bullish activity witnessed ahead of major earning announcements due next week,” said Ahsan Mehanti, Managing Director and CEO of Arif Habib Commodities.

“Rupee gains and speculations over further SBP policy easing after CPI inflation data stood at 5.6% for December 2025 played a catalyst role in bullish activity at PSX,” he added.

 Pakistan’s inflation eased for a second straight month in December, raising hopes for further policy easing.

The headline CPI inflation slowed to 5.6%, mainly on a sharp fall in perishable food prices; however, rising housing costs and sticky core inflation signalled lingering pressures.

CPI declined from 6.1% in November and 6.2% in October, but remained above 4.1% in December last year. On a month-on-month basis, consumer prices fell 0.4% in December, reversing a 0.4% increase in November.

Reserves and flows added to the constructive tone. The SBP said foreign-exchange reserves rose by $13 million to $15.915 billion in the week ended December 26, even as total liquid reserves edged down $10 million to $21.012 billion and commercial-bank reserves slipped $23 million to $5.097 billion.

Short-term local government bonds recorded a net $20 million foreign inflow in December versus $42.2 million of outflows in November; gross T-bill purchases were $77.29 million and divestments $57.27 million as of December 25.

Analysts noted that 2025 flows were weak in the first half amid geopolitics and competing yields, before stabilising in H2 as Pakistan’s risk premium eased and policy continuity improved.

The SBP cut its policy rate by 50 bps to 10.5% in December after four unchanged meetings at 11%.

The KSE-100 delivered a 51.2% total return in 2025. Data compiled by Zakheera show banks leading with a 103.8% total return (about 45% of index gains), followed by cement (88.1%), fertiliser (68.5%), power (62%), and chemicals (58.9%).

Textiles and technology rose 27% and 26.5%, respectively; food and autos were sub-20%; exploration and production gained 16.3%; pharmaceuticals and oil and gas were near 9%, while refineries ended flat.

On Thursday, the benchmark index closed up 1.32% at 176,355.49 from the previous close of 174,054.32 after touching a then record 176,658.38 intraday.