The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) gained over 700 points on Wednesday, pushing the benchmark KSE-100 index beyond the 80,000 mark due to heightened investor interest in state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The benchmark KSE-100 reached 80,292.59 points during the intraday, up by 739.71 points or 0.93% from the previous close of 79,552.89 points. The government’s privatisation plan consists of two to three years and it will be executed, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said as the National Assembly passed the budget for FY25 last week. Minister for Privatisation Aleem Khan has said that the federal government intends to privatise around 24 SOEs in the coming years — with the Pakistan International Airline expected to be the first enterprise to be privatised. Meanwhile, Intermarket Securities Director Research Saad Ali cited optimism regarding the IMF programme and continuation of macro recovery after the passing of the budget without much bottlenecks or big amendments as the major reason for the surge. He added: “The market continues to re-rate from still low valuations and prospect of lower interest rates in future.”