Pakistan's benchmark KSE-100 Index rose about 84% in 2024. — Reuters
Islamabad: Pakistani stocks recorded their biggest annual gain in 22 years, outperforming nearly all markets worldwide as economic conditions improve and traders bet on more interest-rate cuts.
The South Asian nation’s benchmark KSE-100 Index rose about 84% in 2024. That makes the index the second-best performer in local currency terms among the more than 90 tracked globally by Bloomberg.
Country watchers expect the boom to continue in 2025, bolstered by likely more cuts in borrowing costs and easing inflation, while a loan programme from the International Monetary Fund helps to stabilise the economy.
Pakistan’s economy expanded more slowly than expected in the last quarter, but has broadly recovered from 2023 when it narrowly escaped a default.
“This year was all about the return of domestic mutual funds to the market following a much steeper cut in rates than expected,” said Arif Habib Ltd international equity sales head Bilal Khan. “This year, we will see notable inflows from foreigners as investors will not be able to ignore allocating given the performance.” — Bloomberg
