KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) staged a strong recovery on Wednesday, primarily driven by renewed investor confidence and speculative interest ahead of the Federal Budget, with notable buying activity in oil & gas and banking sector stocks.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 960 points or 0.81 percent, closing at 119,931.5 points on Wednesday compared to 118,971.13 points on Tuesday. The benchmark KSE-100 index marked an intraday high of 1,135 points and crossed the 120,000 points milestone. However, the index couldn’t hold on to the momentum and closed at 119,931 points.
On Wednesday, BRIndex100 closed at 12,869.77 points, which was 163.59 points or 1.29 percent higher than previous close with the total volume of 589.24 million shares. Meanwhile, BRIndex30 increased by 575.60 points or 1.53 percent to settle at 38,197.08 points with the total share trading volume of 391.58 million.
Analysts attributed the market’s rebound to improved investor sentiment, strategic institutional buying, and growing optimism ahead of the upcoming Federal Budget, which is expected to introduce supportive economic policies aimed at enhancing market stability. The significant rebound reflected increasing investor confidence, fueled by strong corporate activity and strategic institutional investments, they added.
In terms of trading activity, the ready market recorded a robust turnover of 667.7 million shares, exceeding the 12-month average daily volume of 599.9 million shares and significantly up from the previous session’s 437.92 million shares.
The total traded value stood at Rs 26.6 billion up from Rs 20.81 billion a day earlier. Overall market capitalization rose by Rs 123 billion to Rs 14.454 trillion compared to Rs14.331 trillion in the previous session. Out of the total 463 companies, share value of 287 companies went up, while 125 companies’ share value moved down and share value of 51 companies remained unchanged.
Among the most actively traded companies, K-Electric Ltd topped the charts with 103.65 million shares closing at Rs 4.75, followed by Kohinoor Spinning, in which some 40 million shares were traded and it closed at Rs 5.75. WorldCall Telecom ranked third and closed at Rs 1.27 and its some 36.2 million shares were traded.
PIA Holding Company Limited recorded the highest gains by Rs 1507.3 and closed at a new high of Rs 16,581.16 followed by Rafhan Maize Products Company Limited whose share price closed at Rs 10,462.44, up by Rs 220.69. Moreover, Bhanero Textile Mills Limited and Sapphire Fibres Limited faced notable losses with share values decreased by Rs 32.83 and Rs 26.02 respectively to close at Rs 704.59 and Rs 1023.98.
Analysts at AHL Research said that another attempt of crossing the barrier of 120,000 with internals now suggest that it will give way this week, anticipating a breach and upside expansion.
Market participants attributed the sustained bullish sentiment to renewed optimism surrounding upcoming economic reforms and budgetary measures, alongside corporate earnings anticipation. Analysts expect the market to maintain its positive trajectory if macroeconomic indicators continue to stabilize and investor participation remains strong, they added.
Meanwhile, BR Automobile Assembler Index closed at 21,933.46 points with a net negative change of 21.95 points or 0.1 percent with total turnover remaining 6.77 million shares. BR Cement Index settled at 10,197.85 points with a net positive change of 66.22 points or 0.65 percent and a total turnover of 44.25 million.
BR Commercial Banks Index closed at 35,071.90 points up by 476.42 points or 1.38 percent with a total turnover of 42.30 million shares. On the other hand, BR Power Generation and Distribution Index ended at 20,042.11 points with a net positive change of 214.82 points or 1.08 percent and total turnover remained 114.52 million shares.
BR Oil & Gas Index closed at 11,748.39 points with a net positive change of 123.81 points or 1.07 percent on 29.120 million shares turnover. BR Technology & Communication Index finished at 4,930.96 points marking a change of 54.29 points or 1.11 percent down, with total turnover of 62.46 million shares.
Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said that stocks closed near all-time high amid speculations in the pre-budget session. Auto stocks battered reports of IMF driven tariff relaxation on import of used vehicles proposed in the federal budget FY26 and new National Tariff Policy favouring imports, he added.
He mentioned that the government’s assurance over tax relief for oil refineries amid sales tax exemption and unlocking $6bn infrastructure upgrades, surge in global crude prices and Govt measures for raising tax collection to 12.6pc of GDP easing fiscal deficit played a catalyst role in bull run at PSX.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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