Positive momentum was observed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining over 300 points during the opening hours of trading on Wednesday.
At 10:45am, the benchmark index was hovering at 171,410.93, an increase of 337.20 points or 0.20%.
Buying interest was seen in key sectors, including commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and refineries. Index-heavy stocks, including ARL, NRL, HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, POL, PPL, HBL, MCB, MEBL, NBP and UBL, traded in the green.
A consortium led by AHCL on Tuesday emerged as the winning bidder for the acquisition of a 75% stake in Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), submitting a top bid of Rs135 billion, which was well above the government’s initial minimum price of Rs100 billion and the base price of Rs115 billion, at which the auction began.
On Tuesday, PSX concluded the trading session with most benchmark indices closing lower, as selling pressure persisted across multiple sectors. The benchmark KSE-100 Index closed at 171,073.73 points, down 130.44 points or 0.08%.
Internationally, Asian shares advanced on Wednesday, capping a year of brisk artificial intelligence-driven gains, while commodities such as gold and silver extended their bullish run to new all-time highs as 2025 draws to a close.
Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 notched a closing record as the elusive Santa Claus rally finally set in. US data showing the economy expanded at a much faster-than-expected clip in the third quarter boosted risk sentiment but weighed on bonds.
Stocks in the region were slightly higher, with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan up 0.3%. The index is up 26% for the year, its best performance since 2017.
EURO STOXX 50 futures, Nasdaq futures and S&P 500 futures were little changed amid thin liquidity.
Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.4% and was up 26% this year. South Korea outperformed the rest of Asia for the year with a meteoric surge of 72%.
This is an intra-day update
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