ISLAMABAD: A strong buying rally continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index rising by over 600 points by the close of the trading session.
Buoyed by positive investor sentiment and growing anticipation around upcoming fiscal measures, the index climbed to an intraday high of 119,639.47 points before settling at 118,971.40 — marking a gain of 638.50 points, or 0.54%.
“The benchmark index closed on a positive note, as investors began positioning themselves, reflecting cautious optimism ahead of further clarity on fiscal measures,” said Ismail Iqbal Securities.
The buying was observed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, and power generation.
Index-heavy stocks, including HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, PPL, SNGPL, SSGC, MCB, MEBL, and NBP, traded in the green.
On Thursday, a total of 741,654,162 shares were traded during the day as compared to 690,389,276 shares the previous trading day, whereas the price of shares stood at Rs 23.911 billion against Rs 23.828 billion on the last working day.
As many as 466 companies transacted their shares in the stock market, 268 of them recorded gains and 159 met losses, whereas the share price of 39 companies remained unchanged.
The three top trading companies were WorldCall Telecom with 137,517,831 shares at Rs 1.43 per share, followed by K-Electric Limited with 119,635,956 shares at Rs 5.52 per share and PTCL settled with 65,676,043 shares at Rs 26.23 per share.
PIA Holding Company LimitedB witnessed a maximum increase of Rs 2,427.65 per share, closing at Rs26,704.13 whereas Khyber Textile Mills Limited was the runner-up with Rs 230.64 rise in its share price to close at Rs 2,537.01
Rafhan Maize Products Company Limited witnessed a maximum decline of Rs 175.71 per share price, closing at Rs 10,108.33, whereas the runner-up Supernet Technologies Limited, with a drop of Rs 66.88 in its per share price to Rs 818.69.
On Tuesday, the PSX saw a slight recovery amid speculations in the pre-budget session, and hopes for a real estate package in the federal budget led to cement stocks.
The benchmark KSE-100 index gained 112 points or 0.09 percent, settling at 118,333 points.
Global markets saw a boost on Thursday, with Asian shares and Wall Street futures climbing after a US federal court blocked President Donald Trump’s proposed “Liberation Day” tariffs from taking effect.
The decision also strengthened the dollar against traditional safe-haven currencies.
