The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued its bullish run on Wednesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index climbing nearly 1,000 points in early trade, fueled by investor confidence and strong buying across key sectors.
At 9:50am, the KSE-100 Index stood at 166,482.33, up 988.75 points or 0.60%. The rally was led by index-heavy stocks, including HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, PPL, POL, PSO, WAFI, MCB, NBP, and UBL.
Sectors such as automobile assemblers, commercial banks, fertilizer, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, and power generation saw significant buying activity. Analysts believe the current upward trend could continue if investor sentiment remains strong.
IMF review adds to market focus
The positive rally came a day after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) pressed Pakistan on making progress with the National Finance Commission (NFC) process — a critical component of resource distribution between the Centre and provinces.
The finance ministry and IMF mission are holding technical discussions under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), part of the ongoing second review of the $7 billion program.
Record highs on Tuesday
On Tuesday, the PSX closed at a record high, gaining 1,645.90 points (1%) to settle at 165,493.59. This marked one of the strongest rallies in recent months, driven by across-the-board buying.
Global financial markets remained mixed. Wall Street futures dipped, with S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures both falling 0.5%, while gold surged to a record $3,875 an ounce for the third consecutive session.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei slipped over 1% after its strong performance in the last quarter, while South Korea’s market gained 0.6% as exports grew at their fastest pace in 14 months.
