Records tumble at PSX as buying rally continues
Positive sentiment prevailed for most of the trading session, driving the KSE-100 Index to an intra-day high of 146,081.02.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 145,647.13, a new record high, following an increase of 558.64 points or 0.39%.
On Wednesday, the PSX sustained its record-breaking rally as the benchmark KSE-100 Index soared by 2,051 points, or 1.43%, to settle at an all-time closing high of 145,088.50 points.
In a Prime Minister's Office statement, PM Shehbaz Sharif expressed satisfaction as the stock exchange index surpassed the 145,000-point mark, signalling increased investor confidence in government policies.
PM attributed the surge in stock market activity to business-friendly reforms and said providing support for investment remains a top priority for his administration.
International markets
Asian equities rose on Thursday, with Japanese shares hitting a record high, as tech-led gains on Wall Street, upbeat earnings and growing expectations for U.S. rate cuts boosted sentiment.
The prospect of a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine also underpinned sentiment, benefiting the euro, while weighing on oil prices as traders gauged the outlook for sanctions on Moscow.
At the same time, markets largely shook off Trump's latest tariff threats, including an additional 25% tariff on India over purchases of Russian oil and a threatened 100% duty on chips.
Japan's broad Topix index rose 0.9% to reach an all-time high, with the more tech-focused Nikkei also gaining by about the same margin.
Taiwan's stock benchmark surged 2.3% to a more than one-year peak. South Korea's KOSPI added 0.6%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.4%, and mainland Chinese blue chips advanced 0.3%.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Recorder
20 minutes ago
- Business Recorder
US stocks up as market shrugs off tariff increases
NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks rose early Thursday, extending an upward run as markets shrugged off a spate of fresh US tariff increases that went into effect at midnight. Under a White House policy that had been telegraphed, import duties rose from 10 percent to levels between 15 percent and 41 percent for a list of trading partners. About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.4 percent at 44,361.65. The broad-based S&P 500 climbed 0.5 percent to 6,379.11, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.9 percent to 21,357.96, above its all-time closing record. Wall Street boosted by earnings, Fed rate cut hopes In the last day alone, US President Donald Trump has also announced higher tariffs on India and 100-percent levy on semiconductor companies that don't build in the United States. But investors have been embracing a view that the US economy remains on solid footing and that the impact of levies has not been as bad as feared. 'The chip tariffs certainly sound terrible on the headline,' said Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers. 'But there's so many exemptions … so it's perceived to be having so many loopholes that it's not bad news.' Investor mood 'has been relentlessly positive, interpreting the news flow like a glass half-full day,' Sosnick said. The early gains on Wall Street came as the Bank of England cut its key interest rate by a quarter point to four percent, the lowest level in 2.5 years. Among individual companies, Intel dropped 1.3 percent as Trump called on the chipmaker's CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, to resign after a Republican Senator raised national security concerns over his links to firms in China. Eli Lilly plunged 13.1 percent despite reporting a near-doubling of profits on higher revenues. The drugmaker also released results of clinical testing of a weight loss pill that looked positive 'on the surface,' but indicated less impact than candidates by other companies, said
Business Recorder
an hour ago
- Business Recorder
Russia allows transfers from foreigners' blocked accounts as part of asset swaps
MOSCOW: Russia's central bank has tweaked its rules for non-residents, allowing foreigners' funds from special type-C accounts to pass to Russian investors when involved in the exchange of assets, a move that could free up blocked capital in Russia and abroad. In response to Western sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which froze around $300 billion of Russia's sovereign assets in Western jurisdictions, Moscow started diverting foreign-owned funds in Russia to type-C accounts, access to which is blocked unless Moscow grants a waiver. 'Funds from a type-C bank account, opened for a non-resident, can be deducted for the purpose of implementing … transfers by order of a non-resident … in favour of a resident in order to fulfil obligations,' the central bank said in a note. Russia central bank says current account surplus in January-April at $21.1bn Such transfers are permitted on the basis that the assets are being blocked abroad due to the 'unfriendly actions of foreign states', the central bank specified. All transactions require approval from the government commission on foreign assets. The central bank stressed that the changes do not create new forms of exchanging assets. The central bank's update merely confirms that non-residents can make payments from type-C accounts, in addition to transferring blocked Russian shares, said Grigory Marinichev, a lawyer at Morgan Lewis. 'It remains unclear, however, what immediate benefit this presents for the non-resident, given that they would still be acquiring blocked securities in Euroclear, which may require separate action for unblocking or may remain restricted for an indefinite period,' Marinichev said. The central bank has previously told Reuters that it is constantly working on solving problems with blocked assets.
Business Recorder
an hour ago
- Business Recorder
Trump demands new US census excluding undocumented immigrants
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered officials to work on a new census excluding undocumented immigrants, as the White House presses Republican states to draw more favorable voter maps ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Trump called for a 'new and highly accurate' census that he wanted based on 'modern day facts and figures' gleaned from the 2024 election. 'People who are in our Country illegally WILL NOT BE COUNTED IN THE CENSUS,' he said in the social media post. The US Constitution since 1790 has required a census every 10 years that counts the 'whole number of persons in each state' – including people in the country illegally. The next one is not due until 2030, although preparations for the enormous task are already underway. US terminates legal status for 500,000 immigrants Trump did not make clear if he was referring to the regularly scheduled population count in 2030 or an earlier survey. The census is used to determine how members of Congress are elected, and the Pew Research Center estimates that ignoring unauthorized migrants in 2020 would have deprived California, Florida and Texas of one House seat each. It is also used for apportioning votes in the state-by-state 'electoral college' that decides presidential elections and for allocating trillions of dollars in federal funding. Trump attempted similar moves in his first term but was blocked by the Supreme Court from adding a citizenship question to the census. The court declined to rule on whether the millions of people in the country without legal status can be excluded for the first time. Adding a citizenship question would likely undermine the accuracy of the country's population counts, a March study in the Journal of Policy Management and Analysis showed. Experts believe it would discourage households with Latino and Asian American residents from self reporting. Trump's call for a new census comes with state-level lawmakers and officials in Texas locking horns over proposals for a new electoral map that would likely net Republicans up to five extra House seats in next year's midterms. Republican governors in several other states are exploring new maps ahead of the 2026 elections in a bid to protect the party's razor-thin majority in the House, which would flip with three Democratic gains. Democrats have vowed to retaliate with their own proposals, possibly in New York and California, the country's largest states.
