Historic Milestone: Pakistan Stock Exchange Surges Beyond 73,000 Closing Mark
Following a string of lackluster trading days, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) experienced a burst of buying activity on Friday. This push propelled the benchmark KSE-100 index to a historic high, exceeding 73,000 points for the very first time.
The trading day commenced on a positive note, with the KSE-100 hitting an intra-day peak of 73,449.37 points. While some profit-taking occurred throughout the session, buyers remained largely in control until the market closed.
By the closing bell, the KSE-100 settled at 73,085.50 points, reflecting a gain of 427.45 points or 0.59%. This positive sentiment was mirrored in Hong Kong, where stocks rose on news reports suggesting China might waive dividend taxes for individual investors buying Hong Kong stocks through Stock Connect.
Across the region, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan stock index climbed 0.65%, while Japan's Nikkei index edged up by 0.26%.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee witnessed a slight appreciation against the US dollar. It gained 0.03% in the inter-bank market on Friday, closing at 278.12 against the greenback according to the State Bank of Pakistan.
Trading activity on the PSX also picked up steam. The volume on the all-share index increased to Rs741.2 million from Rs675 million in the previous session. Similarly, the value of shares traded rose to Rs25.27 billion from Rs24.05 billion.
Among the most actively traded stocks were WorldCall Telecom, leading the pack with 85.72 million shares traded. Hum Network followed closely with 51.46 million shares, and Pak Elektron came in third with 33.64 million shares.
A total of 381 companies participated in trading on Friday. Of these, 217 companies witnessed gains, 132 companies experienced losses, and 32 companies remained unchanged.