KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a strong recovery on Friday, driven by easing geopolitical tensions and robust year-on-year growth in large-scale manufacturing, as investors returned to the market after days of cautious trading.
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Investor sentiment improved following US President Donald Trump’s signals that the crackdown on protesters in Iran was easing, reducing fears of a wider regional military conflict and potential disruptions to oil supplies. This prompted broad-based buying across key sectors, including oil and gas, fertilisers, and banking.
The benchmark KSE-100 index surged 3,642.49 points, or 2.01 per cent, to close at 185,099.83, supported mainly by local institutional investors, according to Topline Securities Ltd. Oil and Gas Development Company, Pakistan Petroleum, Hub Power, Engro Holdings, Fauji Fertiliser, United Bank, and Meezan Bank were among the top contributors, together adding 1,725 points to the index.
Ali Najib, Deputy Head of Trading at Arif Habib Ltd, said improved global cues and encouraging domestic indicators reinforced a positive momentum at the bourse. “The easing of geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East triggered across-the-board buying,” he noted.
On the domestic front, the government kept petrol and diesel prices unchanged for the January 16–31 fortnight. Large-scale manufacturing output rose 10.4 per cent year-on-year in November 2025, though month-on-month growth remained modest at 0.2 per cent. Inflationary pressures persisted, with the Sensitive Price Index rising 3.87pc year-on-year.
Trading volumes rose 17.01pc to 959 million shares, while the traded value jumped 51.08pc to Rs69.46 billion. Arif Habib Corporation led the volume chart with 72.9 million shares changing hands.
Read More: PSX slides as Iran crisis shakes investor confidence
Analysts said the market could challenge its all-time high of 187,905 in the coming week, provided the geopolitical calm continues and domestic macroeconomic trends remain positive.