Another day, another high: KSE-100 gains 1.5% to close near 64,000

The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Index witnessed another positive session on Wednesday, as the index closed 1.5% higher and also briefly crossed the 64,000 level for the first time in history.

Wednesday’s session was also largely positive for the benchmark index despite some profit-taking, especially in the second half of the day.

At close, the KSE-100 settled at 63,917.72, up by 961.70 points or 1.53%.

It earlier hit an intra-day high of 64,038.83, highest level in the bourse’s history.

Across-the-board buying was witnessed as index-heavy sectors including cement, chemical, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and refinery traded in the green.

On Tuesday, the PSX had witnessed another positive session, with the benchmark KSE-100 closing higher by 463 points or 0.74% to settle at 62,956.03.

Experts say the ongoing upward momentum signifies a boost in investor confidence, driven by optimistic expectations of an improved economic landscape.

They said that the positive outlook is supported by anticipated financial inflows from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and friendly countries.

Last month, the IMF staff and Pakistani authorities reached a staff-level agreement on first review of the IMF Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) program. The government expects approval from the IMF’s executive board in December.

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Additionally, there is speculation about a potential reduction in interest rates in the upcoming central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, further enhancing the positive sentiment.

Meanwhile, the rupee continued to gain against the US dollar for the seventh consecutive session as it appreciated 0.08% in the inter-bank market on Wednesday. As per the State Bank of Pakistan, the local unit settled at 284.14 after an increase of Re0.24.

Volume on the all-share index increased to 984.8 million from 765.4 million a session before.

The value of shares rose to Rs35.09 billion from Rs30.8 billion in the previous session.

K-Electric Ltd. remained the volume leader with 143.6 million shares, followed by WorldCall Telecom with 56.8 million shares and Hascol Petrol with 54.5 million shares.

Shares of 386 companies were traded on Wednesday, of which 259 registered an increase, 119 recorded a fall, while 8 remained unchanged.