Buying rally continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) amid reports that talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over the incoming federal budget had been successful, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining over 500 points during the opening hours of trading on Wednesday.
At 9:55am, the benchmark index was hovering at 121,268.64 level, a gain of 817.77 points or 0.68%.
Positive momentum was observed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies and OMCs. Index-heavy stocks, including MARI, OGDC, PPL, POL, SNGPL, SSGC, HBL, and NBP, traded in the green.
On Tuesday, PSX closed at a new all-time high level, driven by positive expectations from the upcoming budget and news of the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) approval of $800 million for Pakistan.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index jumped 1,573.07 points or 1.32% to close at 120,451 points, crossing the 120,000-point mark for the first time on a closing basis.
Internationally, Asian stocks inched higher on Wednesday and the dollar wobbled near six-week lows as traders braced for higher US duties on steel and aluminium, the latest chapter in the trade war saga that has rattled the markets for much of the year.
South Korea’s stocks and its currency surged as liberal presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung’s election victory raised hopes of swift economic stimulus, market reforms and easing policy uncertainty.
The benchmark KOSP jumped more than 2% to its highest since August 2024.
That left the MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan 0.6% higher.
Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.8%, while Taiwan stocks jumped 1.6% after artificial intelligence behemoth Nvidia boosted US stocks overnight.
Data on Wednesday showed US job openings increased in April, but layoffs picked up, indicating a slowing labour market as tariffs impact the economic outlook.
Investor attention has been on a possible call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping sometime this week as tensions between the world’s top two economies simmer.
Trump on Friday accused China of violating a Geneva agreement to roll back tariffs and trade restrictions.
This is an intra-day update
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