KSE-100 closes at fresh record high after 684-point gain

Positive momentum persisted at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as the benchmark KSE-100 gained 684 points to close at a fresh record high on Thursday.

Bulls maintained their grip in the market that opened after two-day Muharram holidays. The KSE-100 hit an intra-day high of 81,909.95, helped by buying in sectors including fertiliser, E&P, banking, and auto.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 81,839.86, up by 684.25 points or 0.84%.

“Today, the Pakistan stock market showed strong momentum, achieving a new peak for the KSE 100,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.

Another brokerage house Ismail Iqbal Securities said the surge was supported by Moody’s report that Pakistan’s staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) improves the country’s funding prospects.

Index-heavy stocks including OGDC, PPL, PSO, SHEL, and SNGPL traded in the green on Thursday.

On Monday, the KSE-100 had gained over 1,200 points to close above 81,000 as investors cheered the staff-level agreement between Pakistan and the IMF.

In a key development, Moody’s Ratings said on Tuesday that the new programme will improve Pakistan’s (Caa3 stable) funding prospects, but warned Islamabad’s ability to sustain reform implementation will be key to unlock financing over the three-year duration.

Globally, Asian equities fell on Thursday, led by chip stocks as investors fret over the prospect of escalating trade tensions between the US and China, while the yen surged to a six-week high in the wake of suspected interventions by Tokyo last week.

The US dollar loitered near its weakest in four months against a basket of currencies as comments from Federal Reserve officials bolstered the case for a cut in September, keeping gold prices near record highs.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.57%, with tech heavy South Korean shares down nearly 1%.

China stocks also slipped as investors awaited policy news from a key leadership gathering in Beijing. The Shanghai Composite index was down 0.4% and blue-chip CSI300 index off 0.5%.