Bulls extend rally as PSX crosses 170,000 mark for first time

Bulls extended their rally at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index crossing the 170,000 mark for the first time. 

According to the PSX website, the market opened with positive sentiment, and the KSE-100 surged by 1,241 points, reaching 170,697.74 in the early session.

Key sectors saw increased buying interest, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation, and refineries. Index-heavy stocks like HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, POL, PPL, HBL, and UBL were all trading in the green.

As of 11:08 am, the KSE-100 was hovering at 170,455.67, up by 999.29 points or 0.59% from the previous close of 169,456.38.

Market experts attributed the positive movement to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) board’s approval, which unlocks approximately $1.2 billion for Pakistan through the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).

The IMF, in its review, has praised Pakistan’s economic reforms and highlighted key achievements in stabilising the economy despite external challenges. The global lender forecasted a 3.2% GDP growth for Pakistan in FY26, up from 3% in FY25, and a moderation in inflation to 6.3% in the same period.

The IMF’s statement, following the completion of its second EFF review, noted that Pakistan’s economic performance had remained strong, with accelerated real GDP growth, anchored inflation expectations, and a reduction in fiscal and external imbalances. The IMF attributed these outcomes to Pakistan’s efforts to implement prudent economic policies, even in the face of recent natural disasters, such as severe floods.

On Tuesday, the PSX extended its upward trend, with the KSE-100 Index gaining 1,153.14 points, or 0.69%, to close at 169,456.39, as investors increased their positions across major sectors.

Globally, Asian shares and Wall Street futures hunkered down on Wednesday as crunch time neared for a divided Federal Reserve policy board, and earnings results threatened to test sky-high valuations in the AI space.

With most assets frozen in the Fed headlights, attention was grabbed by a sudden slide in the Japanese yen and the continued dizzy ascent of silver prices, with both hitting record levels.

For now, equity investors were putting discretion ahead of valour and kept trading to a minimum. Japan’s Nikkei started higher but soon fell 0.2%, while South Korea had barely budged.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan inched up 0.1%, while Chinese blue chips fell 0.8% in the wake of mixed inflation data.

Consumer price inflation picked up to an annual 0.7% in November, but still slipped for the month alone, while producer prices remained mired in deflation.

EUROSTOXX 50 futures and DAX futures both eased 0.1%, while FTSE futures fell 0.3% S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures were little changed ahead of key earnings from tech major Oracle and Broadcom.

In anxious bond markets, 10-year Treasury yields were steady for the moment at 4.187%, having climbed from a low of 3.962% in just the nine sessions.

The rise in yields has put a prop under the dollar, further assisted by a broad bout of selling in the yen overnight which looked to be driven by momentum-tracking funds.

The euro was up at 182.12 yen, having broken to an all-time high of 182.64 overnight. The pound hit peaks not seen since mid-2008 at 208.95 yen.

The dollar stood at 156.61 yen, having risen 0.5% on Tuesday, and was a shade softer on a basket of currencies at 99.202.