KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) extended its rally on Wednesday as key indices posted strong gains, fueled by robust investor participation and improved sentiment following the positive announcements in the federal budget.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index rose by 2,328 points, or 1.91 percent, to close at 124,352.68 points, up from 122,024.44 points in the previous session. The market stayed positive throughout the day and recorded one of its biggest single-day gains, showing strong investor confidence. During intraday trading, the index touched a low of 123,237.99 points and a high of 124,588.17 points.
On Wednesday, BRIndex100 closed at 13,322.82 points which was 243.12 points or 1.86 percent higher than previous close. The total volume remained robust to 780.187 million. Meanwhile, BRIndex30 gained 966.83 points or 2.55 percent and closed at 38,924.40 points with the total volume remaining 474.332 million shares.
Market strategists observed that the PSX’s current upward trajectory reflects growing investor appetite, particularly in undervalued blue-chip and mid-tier stocks, as well as speculative interest in low-priced, high-volume counters.
On the other hand, JS Global desk reported that the market welcomed the budget with strong optimism, breaking all resistance levels to cross 124,000 points level. Broad-based participation fueled the rally, reflecting growing investor confidence, they added.
Trading activity remained very strong throughout the day. The total number of shares traded in the ready market crossed 1.041 billion, up sharply from 592.95 million shares in the previous session. The total value of shares traded in the regular market more than doubled, rising to Rs 46.70 billion from Rs 21.82 billion a day earlier. In addition, the market capitalization also saw a significant increase of Rs 226 billion, climbing from Rs 14.76 trillion on Tuesday to a new high of Rs 14.99 trillion.
Among the most active stocks in the ready market, Pervez Ahmed Co. Ltd. led the volumes chart with an extraordinary 78.29 million shares changing hands and closed at Rs 2.00. WorldCall Telecom maintained the second position with 55.14 million shares traded, closing modestly higher at Rs 1.45. Sui Southern Gas Company also witnessed significant buying interest as its share price settled at Rs 41.14, with a turnover of 45.08 million shares.
In terms of price movements, Rafhan Maize Products Company Limited stood out as the session’s top gainer, surging by Rs 117.58 to close at Rs 9,830.52, followed by Hoechst Pakistan Limited, which posted a strong rise of Rs 96.07 to close at Rs 3,307.07. On the losing side, PIA Holding Company LimitedB faced the most significant setback, dropping by Rs 2,591.10 to close at Rs 23,319.88. Khyber Textile Mills Limited also recorded a sharp decline of Rs 246.16, ending the session at Rs 2,215.49.
Market breadth remained overwhelmingly positive as 283 companies posted gains, 157 registered losses, while 38 remained unchanged out of a total of 478 actively traded companies in the ready market. The sharp rise in advancing stocks underlined broad-based buying interest across multiple sectors, including cement, power, oil and gas, and telecom.
Meanwhile, BR Automobile Assembler Index closed at 21,263.41 with a net positive change of 113.56 points or 0.54 percent with total turnover of 6.384 million shares. BR Cement Index gained 453.55 points or 4.42 percent and settled at 10,712.13 with total turnover of 134.752 million shares.
Moreover, BR Commercial Banks Index closed at 36,852.44 with a net positive change of 349.14 points or 0.96 percent and a total turnover of 65.119 million shares changing hands. BR Power Generation and Distribution also surge to 22,221.79 points with a net positive change of 578.03 points or 2.67 percent with the turnover of 52.014 million shares.
BR Oil and Gas Index closed at 11,856.33 with a net positive change of 339.85 points or 2.95 percent and a total turnover of 90.513 million shares. BR Tech. & Comm. Index finished at 2,994.51 points with a net positive change of 8.11 points or 0.27 percent and a total turnover of 89.669 million shares.
Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said that the stock market hit new all-time highs as investors reacted positively to the federal budget for FY26. He explained that the government kept taxes on stocks unchanged while increasing withholding taxes on bank deposits, which encouraged people to invest more in the stock market.
He said that the budget’s targets, including a lower fiscal deficit of 3.9 percent of GDP, a small current account deficit, expected economic growth of 4.2 percent, and a larger federal development budget of Rs 1 trillion, also boosted investor confidence and played a key role in the market’s strong performance.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025