In a historic leap, the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Index shattered previous records on Wednesday, closing at an all-time high of 130,344.03 points.
Continuing its bullish momentum, the index surged by 2,144.61 points—an impressive gain of 1.67 percent from the previous close of 128,199.43.
The latest milestone underscores growing optimism in the financial markets, as the PSX continues to attract both local and foreign interest amid signs of economic recovery. A total of 1,026,117,776 shares were traded during the day as compared to 1,032,756,027 shares the previous trading day, whereas the price of shares stood at Rs 49.294 billion against Rs 44.008 billion on the last trading day.
As many as 473 companies transacted their shares in the stock market, 256 of them recorded gains and 192 sustained losses, whereas the share price of 25 companies remained unchanged. The three top trading companies were WorldCall Telecom with 89,872,005 shares at Rs 1.61 per share, Bank of Punjab with 89,872,005 shares at Rs 11.54 per share and Kohinoor Spinning with 46,349,499 shares at Rs 6.12 per share.
PIA Holding Company LimitedB witnessed a maximum increase of Rs1,778.37 per share closing at Rs19,562.10 whereas runner-up was Khyber Textile Mills Limited with Rs111.75 rise in its share price to close at Rs1,486.16.
Bhanero Textile Mills Limited witnessed a maximum decrease of Rs 108.56 per share price, closing at Rs 977.06, whereas the runner-up was Rafhan Maize Products Company Limited with Rs 71.20 decline in its per share price to Rs 9,515.17.
World Markets
Stock markets diverged and the dollar rose Wednesday as US President Donald Trump ruled out a fresh delay to reciprocal tariffs. Tokyo-listed equities took a hit from Trump’s threats to ramp up Japanese levies, Hong Kong closed higher and Europe’s main indices were up around midday.
Stocks trading was “taking a relatively positive tone despite the tech-led weakness seen in the US” on Tuesday, noted Rostro chief market analyst Joshua Mahony.
Oil prices jumped more than one percent as crude-producer Iran suspended cooperation with the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, days after a ceasefire in a war that saw Israeli and US strikes on nuclear sites in the Islamic republic.
Market watchers reacted also to Trump’s signature budget bill that scraped through the Senate. Optimism over an extension to deep tax cuts helped to offset warnings it could add around $3 trillion to the national debt.
A week before Trump’s 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs ends, few governments have struck deals to avert the taxes, though White House officials say several are in the pipeline.
And while the administration had set July 9 as the deadline to finalise pacts, investors largely expect that to be pushed back or countries given extra time.
However, the president said Tuesday he was “not thinking about the pause” and again warned he would end negotiations or hike some duties.
Among those in his sights was Japan, which he slammed this week over US rice and auto exports to the country.
Asia Society Policy Institute vice president, Wendy Cutler, told AFP that “Japan’s refusal to open its rice market, coupled with the US resistance to lowering automotive tariffs, may lead to the reimposition of Japan’s 24 percent reciprocal tariff”.
In Washington senators passed Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” he says will boost the economy by extending tax cuts and slashing spending on programmes such as Medicare.
The legislation now faces a tough passage through the House of Representatives, where some Republicans have raised concerns about its cost amid already heightened fears over the country’s finances.
On the corporate front Wednesday, shares in Qantas dropped more than two percent after the Australian airline said it was probing a “significant” cyberattack where hackers infiltrated a system containing sensitive data on six million customers. Hong Kong-listed Chinese tech titan Alibaba dipped after saying it would issue US$7 billion in subsidies for certain purchases.
Hong Kong is expected to lead the world in IPO financing this year despite uncertainty from geopolitical tensions and trade tariffs, accountancy giant PwC said.