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The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) reached new heights on Friday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index crossing the 178,000 level for the first time in its history.

At 11:10 am, the KSE-100 Index was trading at 178,715.38, up by 2359.89 points, or 1.34%, reflecting broad-based buying interest in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, fertilizer, oil and gas exploration, OMCs, power generation, and refineries. Index-heavy stocks such as HUBCO, ARL, MARI, OGDC, PPL, POL, PSO, HBL, NBP, and UBL all saw gains.

Pakistan’s headline inflation rate for December 2025 stood at 5.6% on a year-on-year basis, in line with the Ministry of Finance’s estimated range of 5.5-6.5%.

The country also saw a reversal in foreign investment trends in December, with net inflows of $20 million in short-term local government bonds, up from $42.2 million in outflows the previous month. Foreign investors invested $77.29 million into treasury bills, although $57.27 million was divested during the same period.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s total liquid foreign exchange reserves stood at $21.012 billion as of December 26, 2025, showing a slight decline from $21.023 billion recorded a week earlier.

The PSX had a strong start to the year, with a broad rally that lifted all major indices. On Thursday, the KSE-100 Index posted a sharp gain of 2,301.17 points, or 1.32%, closing at 176,355.49 points, signaling strong market optimism for 2026.

International markets also began 2026 on a positive note, though trading was thin due to holiday breaks. In Asia, MSCI’s broad index of shares outside Japan rose 0.66%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 1.24%. U.S. futures, including S&P 500 and Nasdaq, also saw gains, while European futures showed mixed results.