KEY POINTS
- Index closes at 150,591.00, a gain of 820.26 points
- PSX rises to an intraday high of 151,261.67
- Session’s low was recorded at 149,931.67
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued its upward trajectory amid investors’ optimism, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index closing at a new all-time high on Wednesday after gaining over 800 points.
Positive sentiment dominated the trading session, driving the benchmark KSE-100 Index to an intra-day high of 151,261.67.
By the close of the market, the index had gained 820.26 points, or 0.55%, to settle at 150,591.
Buying interest was observed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, commercial banks, power generation, and refinery. Index-heavy stocks, including PRL, ARL, HUBCO, MEBL, NBP, and BOP traded in the green.
In a significant development for Pakistan’s corporate landscape, Moody’s Ratings upgraded the local and foreign-currency long-term deposit ratings of five major Pakistani banks — Allied Bank Limited (ABL), Habib Bank Ltd (HBL), MCB Bank Limited (MCB), National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), and United Bank Ltd (UBL) — from Caa2 to Caa1.
On Wednesday, a total of 667,817,396 shares were traded as compared to 809,082,439 shares on the last working day, whereas the price of shares stood at PKR 40.728 billion against PKR 48.430 billion on the previous trading day.
As many as 486 companies transacted their shares in the stock market, 240 of them recorded gains and 215 met losses, whereas the share price of 31 companies remained unchanged.
On Tuesday, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued its record-breaking rally, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index closing at an all-time high of 149,770.75 points, marking a gain of 1,574 points or 1.06%.
Global trend
Globally, markets came under pressure on Wednesday following a tech-driven selloff on Wall Street. The US dollar also strengthened ahead of a closely watched meeting of central bankers later in the week.
Stock futures indicated a weaker opening in Europe, while most Asian markets traded in negative territory. Tech-heavy indices South Korea led the losses, partly due to growing concerns over the Trump administration’s increasing influence on the tech sector.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped over 1%. EUROSTOXX 50 futures fell 0.64%, while DAX futures declined by 0.63%.
In the US, S&P 500 futures slipped 0.27%, and Nasdaq futures lost 0.44%, extending losses from the previous session.
Japan’s Nikkei dropped 1.7%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Tech Index declined by 1.3%.
