Bulls returned to the trading floor on Friday as the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) gained 1,000 points two days after it fell below 75,000.

The KSE-100 index stood at 75,609.82 at 12:16pm, gaining 731.70, or 0.98 per cent, from the previous close of 74,878.12.

As the bullish momentum continued, the PSX finally closed at 75,878.47 points, up by 1,000.35 or 1.34pc from the previous close.

Raza Jafri, chief executive of EFG Hermes Pakistan, attributed the upward trajectory to Morgan Stanley Capital International’s (MSCI’s) semi-annual index rebalancing taking place today with “further foreign buying” expected.

“Investors also have an eye on a softer inflation reading, with the announcement expected on Monday. Both these factors are driving up the KSE-100 today,” he added.

Mohammed Sohail, chief executive of Topline Securities, said that the market was “recovering amid expectations that inflation data — likely to be released tomorrow — will be lower than 14pc”.

He noted that the MSCI rebalancing today also created some excitement.

Yousuf M. Farooq, director of research at Chase Securities, said: “The market has rallied this morning on the expectation of a rate cut in the upcoming Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting.”

“Inflation is expected to clock in close to 13.5pc and with interest rates at 22pc and T-Bills now hovering around 21pc, rate cut expectations have increased,” he said, adding that the upcoming budget, the next IMF programme and the next MPC meeting “will remain key events for the market over the next month”.