ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) observed a bullish trend on Thursday, as the benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 881.03 points before closing the day.
On Thursday, a total of 408,066,790 shares were traded as compared to 481,813,460 shares on the previous trading day, whereas the price of shares stood at Rs 32.127 billion against Rs 38.536 billion on the last trading day.
As many as 445 companies transacted their shares in the stock market, 212 of them recorded gains and 172 sustained losses, whereas the share price of 61 companies remained unchanged.
The three top trading companies were Maple Leaf with 23,794,610 shares at Rs 64.57 per share, followed by B O Punjab Limited with 23,321,095 shares at Rs 11.26 per share, whereas Cnergyico PK settled with 17,945,036 shares at Rs 8.53 per share.
PIA Holding Company LimitedB witnessed a maximum increase of Rs 175.36 per share, closing at Rs 1,928.97, whereas Sazgar Engineering Works Limited was the runner-up with Rs 62.44 rise in its share price to close at Rs 1,232.22.
Hoechst Pakistan Limited witnessed a maximum decline of Rs 153.86 per share price, closing at Rs 3,041.09, whereas the runner-up Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited settled with Rs 56.65 decline in its per share price to Rs 22,911.32.
On Wednesday, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) experienced a bearish trend, with the benchmark index falling by 755.40 points, or 0.65%.
In a significant development, Kuwait has extended its oil credit facility to Pakistan for an additional two years. The announcement was made by Kuwait’s Ambassador to Pakistan during a meeting with Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik in Islamabad, according to a statement issued by the Petroleum Division.
On Tuesday, rating agency Fitch upgraded Pakistan’s foreign currency credit rating to ‘B-’ from ‘CCC+’ while citing increased confidence in the country’s progress in narrowing its budget deficits.
The upgrade also reflects confidence that the country would implement structural reforms, supporting its International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme performance and funding availability, Fitch said.
Asian markets fluctuated on Thursday after US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned that tariffs could lead to slower economic growth and higher prices. Ongoing uncertainty surrounding US trade policies also kept the dollar hovering near a three-year low.
Technology stocks remained in focus following a sharp sell-off on Wednesday, triggered by cautious outlooks from industry leaders Nvidia and ASML, with investors also eyeing upcoming earnings from Taiwan’s TSMC.
Meanwhile, safe-haven gold continued its upward momentum, hitting yet another record high in early Thursday trading. Powell’s remarks about signs of a slowdown in US economic growth also contributed to a decline in Treasury yields.
