Stocks soar: KSE-100 Index notches another record close

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) maintained its record-breaking run as strong corporate results boosted confidence and attracted robust investor participation on Wednesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index closing above 157,000 for the first time in history.

Positive momentum persisted through most of the trading session, pushing the benchmark index to an intra-day high of 157,479.42.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 157,020.79, an increase of 457.27 points or 0.29%.

“A tussle between bulls and bears was witnessed in the early hours of today’s trading session, with the index swinging between an intra-day high of 915 points and a low of 484 points,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.

Investor confidence remained buoyant, with market heavyweights attracting robust flows and reinforcing the bullish undertone. Key contributors to the rally included EFERT, PPL, BAHL, LCI, and MARI, which collectively added 363 points to the index. On the flipside, ENGROH, UBL, HBL, FFC, and MEBL cumulatively dented performance by 316 points, it added.

Adding further momentum, investor enthusiasm shone through in the book-building of IMAGE REIT, which was fully subscribed within a record one and a half hours and has already reached 1.15 times subscription.

“From the corporate front, ILP (textile sector) announced its FY25 results, posting an EPS of Rs3.96 per share alongside a cash dividend of Rs1 per share — surpassing industry expectations,” Topline said.

In a key development on the corporate front, Shanghai Electric Power (SEP) terminated its purchase of 18,335,542,678 shares in K-Electric (KE), a Pakistani utility company, for $1.77 billion.

The PSX closed Tuesday’s session again on a positive note as the benchmark KSE-100 Index surged by 476.22 points, or 0.31%, to settle at 156,563.53 points.

Internationally, Asian stocks tracked Wall Street higher on Wednesday, and bonds fell as traders firmed up bets that US labour market softness would spur the Federal Reserve to cut rates by at least a quarter point next week.

Markets also took in stride a court ruling that temporarily blocked President Donald Trump from removing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, a case which is likely to end up before the US Supreme Court.

Investors are keenly following the unprecedented legal battle as it could upend the central bank’s long-held independence, although there was no immediate market reaction.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei added 0.3%, South Korea’s KOSPI jumped 1.3% and Taiwan’s equity benchmark climbed 1.46%, hitting a record high.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.5%, while mainland Chinese blue chips rose 0.2%.

Overnight, the S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite and the Dow Jones Industrial Average each ended the day at fresh all-time highs. S&P 500 futures pointed 0.2% higher on Wednesday.

Traders see a rate cut by the Fed next Wednesday as a sure thing, and even lay 7% odds on a super-sized half-point reduction, the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool show.

A week earlier, markets assigned 7% probability to the Fed holding rates steady, but another dismal monthly payroll number last week convinced investors the Fed had no cushion to wait any longer to support the economy.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee maintained its positive momentum against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Wednesday. At close, the rupee settled at 281.60, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback. This was the rupee’s 24th straight gain against the greenback.

Volume on the all-share index decreased to 996.27 million from 1,068.52 million recorded in the previous close. The value of shares declined to Rs52.73 billion from Rs55.19 billion in the previous session.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 75.55 million shares, followed by B.O.PunjabXD with 72.46 million shares, and K-Electric Ltd with 61.36 million shares.

Shares of 486 companies were traded on Wednesday, of which 226 registered an increase, 227 recorded a fall, while 33 remained unchanged.