Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) extended its bullish run at the start of 2026, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index settling at a new record high on Wednesday, driven by sustained buying from local institutional investors.
During trading, the KSE-100 Index witnessed a sharp dip soon after the opening bell, dropping to an intra-day low of 184,896.70, but sentiment quickly improved, triggering a broad-based recovery that lifted the index steadily through the late morning and early afternoon.
The benchmark touched an intraday high of 187,015 before easing slightly, yet it held most of its gains. At close, the benchmark index settled at 186,518.71, a gain of 1,456.61 points or 0.79%.
The buying rally is fuelled by the anticipation of a policy rate cut in the upcoming Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, scheduled to be held later this month, say analysts.
“Optimism has carried over decisively into 2026, with the PSX gaining a robust 12,464 points (+7.2%) in the first five trading sessions of the year,” said Topline Securities in its post-market commentary.
The brokerage house said the rally is driven largely by aggressive buying from local funds.
“The shift in asset allocation—from fixed-income instruments to equities amid declining returns on traditional avenues—has continued to fuel liquidity and support elevated valuations.
HUBC, PPL, ENGROH, MCB, and MEBL emerged as key drivers, collectively contributing around 766 points to the index’s advance,” Topline added.
On Tuesday, United Bank Limited (UBL) emerged as the largest listed company in Pakistan, with its market capitalisation reaching Rs1.28 trillion (USD 4.6 billion), overtaking Oil & Gas Development Company (OGDC).
The PSX closed Tuesday’s trading session on a strong footing as sustained institutional buying pushed the benchmark index to a fresh all-time high, amid robust volumes. The benchmark KSE-100 Index surged by 2,653 points, or 1.45%, to close at a record 185,062 points.
Internationally, crude futures slid, and resource shares climbed in Asian trading as markets absorbed the impact of political upheaval in Venezuela and the fate of its petroleum reserves.
Oil prices continued their slide after US President Donald Trump said Venezuela will be “turning over” up to 50 million barrels of oil to be sold at its market price following the toppling and capture of the nation’s leader.
Japanese shares weighed down regional equity benchmarks, while commodity shares were broadly higher after an overnight surge in industrial metals prices.
Japan’s Nikkei stock index slid 0.25%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index, heavily weighted by commodity producers, climbed 0.3%.
Caracas and Washington have reached a deal to export up to $2 billion worth of Venezuelan crude to the United States, Trump said on Tuesday.
The arrangement follows a weekend strike on Venezuela, as well as comments by the White House that the U.S. was looking at options to acquire Greenland, and the use of the US military toward that goal was “always an option”.
Stocks in Tokyo were weighed down after China announced the ban on exports of dual-use items to Japan that can be used for military purposes, Beijing’s latest move in reaction to a remark by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about Taiwan.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee registered an improvement against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Wednesday. At close, the local currency settled at 280.06, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback.
Volume on the all-share index increased to 1,329.5 million from 1,306.1 million recorded in the previous close. The value of shares improved to Rs86.59 billion from Rs85.32 billion in the previous session.
K-Electric was the volume leader with 77.89 million shares, followed by Hascol Petrol with 58.65 million shares, and B.O.Punjab with 54.53 million shares.
Shares of 486 companies were traded on Wednesday, of which 299 registered an increase, 161 recorded a fall, and 26 remained unchanged.
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