KARACHI (Dunya News) – The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) extended its bullish run on Tuesday amid economic optimism and rising confidence of the country’s private businesses.
During the intraday trading, the benchmark KSE-100 index surged by 796.05 points to reach all-time high of 147,725.89, marking a 0.54% increase from the previous close of 146,929.84.
The market rally is also being attributed to sustained economic optimism, robust corporate earnings, and expectations of increased foreign investment inflows.
Investor sentiment was further buoyed by a significant year-on-year rise in workers’ remittances, which totaled $3.2 billion in July, reflecting strong support from overseas Pakistanis.
A stable Pakistani rupee and positive signals from ongoing Pakistan-US trade discussions also contributed to investor confidence, pushing the index upward for another consecutive session.
A day earlier, the KSE-100 Index gained 1,547.05 points, a positive of 1.06 percent, closing recorded high at 146,929.84 points.
A total of 611,205,197 shares were traded during the day as compared to 548,050,956 shares the previous trading day, whereas the price of shares stood at Rs 44.004 billion against Rs 45.488 billion on the last trading day.
As many as 479 companies transacted their shares in the stock market, 242 of them recorded gains and 209 sustained losses, whereas the share price of 28 companies remained unchanged.
Pakistan businesses’ confidence rises to a four-year high, Gallup Survey
The confidence of Pakistan’s private businesses has surged in the country’s direction to its highest level in nearly four years, according to Gallup Pakistan’s latest survey.
Also, an increasing number of businessmen have started thinking that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government is managing Pakistan’s economy better than the previous government of his counterpart Imran Khan.
The improvement comes despite inflation, high utility costs, and electricity load-shedding continue to hinder business operations.
The Gallup’s business confidence survey for Q2 2025 was conducted between July 23 and 27 and captured the views of 524 businesses of Pakistan across manufacturing, services, and trade sectors. The standout finding from this quarter is a significant rebound in perceptions of the country’s overall direction. Gallup’s “Direction of the Country Score” now stands at -2 percent, a dramatic improvement from the far more pessimistic readings of late 2024.
While the score remains marginally negative, it marks the highest level of confidence in national direction since Q4 2021. “This uptick suggests a moderate easing of political and economic uncertainty from the perspective of the business community,” the survey said.
The number of businesses holding a good perception about Sharif government’s ability to manage the country’s economy has significantly improved over the past year. According to Gallup, 46 percent of businessmen rated the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government’s management of the economy as better than its predecessor, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, compared to just 24 percent a year ago.