Continuing its bullish run, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) made fresh history as the KSE-100 Index climbed through 150,000, ultimately closing at 150,591, a gain of 820 points on Wednesday.
The KSE-100 Index advanced throughout the day, peaking in the 151,000-point zone before settling at 150,591 points, up 820 points (around 0.55%). The surge reinforces the market’s positive trajectory following recent record levels.
What’s fueling the rally
This sustained upward trend is driven by investor confidence buoyed by:
Strong institutional buying from both local and international investors
Improving macroeconomic indicators, including rupee stability
Positive corporate developments, such as Moody’s upgrade of five major Pakistani banks (ABL, HBL, MCB, NBP, UBL) to Caa1 from Caa2, mirroring the sovereign upgrade and reflecting improved fiscal management under the IMF Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme
Buying interest strengthened in key industries like banking, pharmaceuticals, cement, IT, automobile, and energy. Heavyweights such as PRL, ARL, HUBCO, MEBL, NBP and BOP again showed resilient gains in intraday trading.
Global markets under pressure
While Pakistan’s stock market continues to post record highs, global equities painted a contrasting picture. Asian and European bourses struggled on Wednesday after a tech-led selloff on Wall Street.
Japan’s Nikkei dropped 1.7%
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Tech Index shed 1.3%
MSCI Asia-Pacific index (ex-Japan) fell more than 1%
European futures pointed lower, with EUROSTOXX 50 down 0.64% and DAX futures shedding 0.63%.
The divergence highlights Pakistan’s domestic strength and investor resilience, despite global uncertainty.
