The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) experienced a surge on Wednesday, with the KSE-100 Index reaching a new all-time high of 117,974.02, marking an increase of 972.93 points or 0.83%. Throughout the trading session, the index hit an intra-day high of 118,243.63, reflecting strong positive momentum.
The growth was attributed to several factors, including progress on the IMF programme and the resolution of circular debt in the energy sector. Key sectors such as automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation, and refineries saw notable buying activity. Major stocks including PRL, NRL, HUBCO, PSO, MARI, OGDC, PPL, HBL, NBP, and UBL all ended the day in the green.
According to market experts, the upward movement was driven by multiple favorable developments. Saad Hanif, Head of Research at Ismail Iqbal Securities, highlighted the positive news regarding circular debt reduction in the energy sector, with plans for debt refinancing that benefited index-heavy energy stocks. Additionally, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) commended Pakistan’s progress under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), fueling hopes of an impending agreement. Hanif also noted that market sentiment was bolstered by expectations of a government announcement to lower electricity rates on March 23.
Sana Tawfik, Head of Research at Arif Habib Limited, emphasized that trading volumes had improved since the beginning of Ramadan, signaling increasing market participation. She anticipates that the positive momentum will persist in the coming days.
On Tuesday, the KSE-100 Index had also experienced a rally, closing above 117,000 points with a gain of over 800 points.
Globally, Asian stock markets were subdued, and gold prices hovered near record highs as concerns over the global economic outlook and geopolitical tensions weighed on investor sentiment. Meanwhile, the yen weakened slightly ahead of the Bank of Japan’s upcoming policy decision.
In geopolitical news, the situation in Gaza and tensions in Ukraine created uncertainty in global markets, contributing to fragile investor sentiment. The MSCI Asia-Pacific index outside Japan dipped 0.12%, while Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.5%, benefiting from a weaker yen.
Locally, the volume of shares traded increased to 544.20 million, up from 449.48 million in the previous session, with the total value of shares reaching Rs32.31 billion, compared to Rs29.18 billion on Tuesday. Pak Int.Bulk led the volume charts with 52.15 million shares traded, followed by Pak Elektron and WorldCall Telecom.
In total, shares of 449 companies were traded, with 221 registering gains, 157 seeing declines, and 71 remaining unchanged.
