New record high: Pakistan’s stock market closes above 59,000

WEB DESK: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued its impressive performance on the last trading day of the week, Friday, breaking records as it surged past the significant milestone of 59,000 points.

The index reached an unprecedented high of over 59,500 points, reflecting remarkable economic optimism.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index demonstrated its strength by hitting a record of 59,502 points, marking a 1 per cent increase or 602 points during the early trading hours of Friday, a significant rise from Thursday’s closing figure of 58,900 points.

The market concluded on Friday at 59,086.35, witnessing a gain of 186 points, or 0.32 per cent. The total volume of shares traded on Friday amounted to 289,169,682.

Reports suggest that Pakistan’s stock market has sustained its momentum primarily due to two key factors.

Read more: Pakistani rupee gains against US dollar

Firstly, there is a prevailing optimism among investors regarding the economic revival, following the IMF’s staff-level approval for the next loan tranche of $700 million to Pakistan.

This approval came after the successful conclusion of the first economic review on November 15, 2023.

Secondly, despite the continuous surpassing of major milestones, stock prices have remained relatively low.

In today’s trading session at PSX, technology stocks led the rally in terms of volumes.

Additionally, some power companies and banking stocks attracted significant investor interest, emerging as top performers in terms of trading volumes.

A Pakistani brokerage house has projected a further surge in Pakistan’s stock market, anticipating it to reach 75,000 points over the next 13 months by December 2024.