ISLAMABAD: A buying spree continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) amid investor optimism, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index closing the day at 117,974.02.
The positive momentum continued throughout the trading session, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index hitting an intra-day high of 118,243.63. At close, the benchmark index gained 972.93 points or 0.83%.
Buying was observed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation, and refinery. Index-heavy stocks including PRL, NRL, HUBCO, PSO, MARI, OGDC, PPL, HBL, NBP, and UBL traded in the green.
On Wednesday a total of 544,200,130 shares were entertained as compared to 449,484,737 shares the last working day, whereas the price of shares stood at 32.310 billion against Rs 29.178 billion on the previous trading day.
As many as 449 companies transacted their shares in the stock market, 221 of them registered gains, and 157 met losses, whereas the share price of 71 companies remained unchanged.
The three top trading companies were Pak International Bulk with 52,151,863 shares at Rs 11.05 per share followed by Pak Elektron with 36,133,139 shares at Rs 48.14 per share whereas WorldCall Telecom settled with 30,884,952 shares at Rs 1.40 per share.
Excide Pakistan Limited witnessed a maximum increase of Rs 74.83 per share closing at Rs 823.10 whereas Macter International Limited was the runner-up with Rs 36.71 rise in its share price to close at Rs 403.77.
Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited witnessed a maximum decline of Rs 82.50 per share price, closing at Rs 23,400.00, whereas the runner-up was Nestle Pakistan Limited with a drop of Rs 64.84 in its per share price to Rs 7,402.33.
In a major development, the IMF has authorised Pakistan’s government to borrow Rs 1.25 trillion ($4.5 billion) from domestic banks to tackle its growing circular debt, without increasing its public debt stock.
This agreement followed policy discussions between Pakistani officials and the IMF, during which Islamabad presented a six-year plan to manage the Rs 2.4 trillion circular debt that has burdened the power sector.
On Tuesday, the buying rally continued at the PSX, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index settling above the 117,000 level amid a gain of over 800 points.
Asian stocks were subdued on Wednesday, while gold remained near record highs as concerns about the economy and a shifting geopolitical landscape kept investor risk appetite low. Meanwhile, the yen softened slightly ahead of the Bank of Japan’s upcoming policy decision.
The euro stayed near the five-month high it reached on Tuesday, following Germany’s parliament approval of a major spending increase.
Geopolitical tensions rose as Israeli airstrikes targeted Gaza, resulting in over 400 deaths on Tuesday and breaking nearly two months of relative calm since a ceasefire began, heightening uncertainty among investors.
