The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) achieved another milestone on Wednesday as the KSE-100 Index rose to a historic close of 150,591 points, gaining 820 points during the session. The index briefly moved into the 151,000 zone before ending the day with robust gains.
Analysts attributed the rally to renewed investor confidence, which has been supported by stability in the rupee, strong participation from institutional investors, and improved corporate outlook. A significant boost came after Moody’s upgraded the ratings of five leading banks — ABL, HBL, MCB, NBP, and UBL — in line with the country’s sovereign credit improvement under the IMF Extended Fund Facility.
Key sectors such as banking, energy, pharmaceuticals, cement, automobiles, and IT drove the advance, with heavyweights like HUBCO, PRL, ARL, MEBL, NBP and BOP recording notable intraday strength.
While Pakistan’s market maintained its upward run, global equities painted a starkly different picture. Asian bourses tracked losses from Wall Street’s tech sector, with Japan’s Nikkei down 1.7%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Tech Index falling 1.3%, and the MSCI Asia-Pacific Index slipping over 1%. European futures also turned weaker, with the EUROSTOXX 50 and DAX both recording early declines.