Stocks soar to all-time high level
KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at a new all-time high level on Tuesday driven by positive expectations from the upcoming budget and news of the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) approval of $800 million for Pakistan.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index jumped 1,573.07 points or 1.32 percent to close at 120,451 points, crossing the 120,000-point mark for the first time on a closing basis. Market remained in green throughout the day and during the intraday trading, the index hit a high level of 120,694 points and a low level of 119,129.52 points.
On Monday, BRIndex100 ended at 12,931.26 points, which was 161.91 points or 1.27 percent higher than the previous close with the total volume of 462.354 million shares. BRIndex30 also increased by 356 points or 0.95 percent to settle at 37,715.87 points with the total share trading volume of 308.199 million.
Ahsan Mehnati at Arif Habib Limited (AHL) said the market closed at an all-time high, supported by broad-based buying across multiple sectors. He attributed the rally to the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) approval of an $800 million financing package for Islamabad, along with the government's proposed 4.2 percent GDP growth target for FY26 and the expected approval of Rs 880 billion Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) in the upcoming federal budget.
'Expectations of budgetary relief for oil refineries, the real estate sector, and agriculture, as well as rupee appreciation in the interbank market, also played a crucial role in driving the bullish close at the PSX,' he added.
Trading activity remained strong on Tuesday, with 578.16 million shares changing hands, higher than the 498 million shares traded in the previous session. The traded value, on the other hand, also saw an increase to Rs 26.827 billion from Rs 23.450 billion on Monday. The overall market capitalization also rose by Rs 149 billion, reaching Rs 14.593 trillion compared to Rs 14.444 trillion on Monday. Out of 467 actively traded companies, 232 recorded gains, 187 declined, while 48 remained unchanged.
Driving today's rally were key index movers including FFC, HBL, EFERT, LUCK, and BAHL, which collectively added 691 points to the benchmark.
Among the top traded companies, K-Electric Ltd. ranked first on Monday with 144.646 million shares closing at Rs 5.32, followed by Faysal Bank, of which 26.656 million shares were traded and it closed at Rs 53.77. Invest Bank ranked third and closed at Rs 2.35 with 25.541 million shares turnover.
PIA Holding Company Limited recorded the highest gains increase by Rs 3,231.20 and closed at a new high of Rs 35,543.19 followed by Khyber Textile Mills Limited whose share price value closed at Rs 3,376.76, up by Rs 306.98. Moreover, Sapphire Fibres Limited and Rafhan Maize Products Company Limited faced prominent losses with share values decreased by Rs 57.89 and Rs 35.12 respectively to close at Rs 1,055.19 and Rs 9,883.90.
Meanwhile, BR Automobile Assembler Index closed at 21,206.26 points with a net positive change of 80.96 points or 0.38 percent with the total turnover remaining 1.565 million shares. BR Cement Index gained 95.07 points or 0.94 percent to settle at 10,247.02 points with a total turnover of 41.980 million.
BR Commercial Banks Index closed at 35,694.98 points up by 685.57 points or 1.96 percent with a total turnover of 65.497 million shares. Meanwhile, BR Power Generation and Distribution Index ended at 20,847.51 points with a net positive change of 383.34 points or 1.87 percent with total turnover of 157.194 million shares.
BR Oil & Gas Index closed at 11,489.18 points with a net positive change of 72.85 points or 0.64 percent on 18.443 million shares turnover. While BR Technology & Communication Index finished at 2,921.20 points marking a positive change of 18.79 points or 0.65 percent, with total turnover of 53.555 million shares.
According to Topline the index surged to an intraday high of 1,816 points, as momentum picked up sharply after news broke that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved an $800 million loan under Pakistan's public finance program, a major vote of confidence in the country's economic reform trajectory. Adding further fuel to the rally, the IMF gave its nod to Pakistan's budget proposals, reinforcing hopes of continued fiscal discipline and policy continuity.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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