ISLAMABAD: Share prices on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued their record-breaking run as they breached another hurdle on Thursday, taking the index to a new all-time high.
In the first session, the PSX’s benchmark KSE-100 index rose 913 points to 131,258 points, on aggressive institutional buying and investor optimism. Some profit-taking was later observed which erased some of the gains, but at 11:00 am, the index was trading at 130,767.00, up 422.97 points or 0.32 percent.
A total of 44 companies were traded so far, of which 222 companies increased their share prices and 205 companies decreased their share prices while 17 remained stable.
On Wednesday, the PSX index registered an impressive gain of 2,144.61 points, or 1.67 percent, to hit a high of 130,344.03 points.
The latest milestone highlights the growing optimism in the financial markets, as the PSX continued to attract local and foreign interest amid signs of economic recovery.
A total of 1,026,117,776 shares were traded on Wednesday, while the share price was valued at Rs49.294 billion.
Experts opined that value hunting, amid renewed optimism for the fiscal year and limited appeal in fixed income instruments, fueled the bullish momentum, prompting a move into equities in search of higher profits.
Banks led the rally on Wednesday, with heavyweight stocks such as United Bank, MCB Bank, Bank Al Habib, Meezan Bank, Habib Bank and National Bank collectively contributing 1,285 points to the index. The sector attracted strong institutional interest due to expectations of fiscal easing, strong financial results, and attractive profit yield.
The pharmaceutical sector also saw a recovery, with The Cereal Company hitting its upper lock. City Pharma Limited, Helion Pakistan Limited, and Abbott Laboratories (Pakistan) Limited attracted notable investor interest.
Overall trading activity remained buoyant. Volume crossed 1.02 billion shares, while the total value of trade reached Rs 49.17 billion. World Call Telecom Limited topped the volume chart with 89.8 million shares.
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