PSX opens strong, surpasses 117,000-point mark

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday, the third trading day of the week, opened in the green as the benchmark KSE-100 index rose by 957.32 points to reach 117,010 points within the first three minutes of trading. The volume stood at 2,689,583 shares.

The stock market extended its gains, rising by 1,047 points to 117,099.96 points around 9:35 AM, with the volume remaining at 117,099.96 shares.

The PSX continued its upward trend, reaching a day’s high of 117,750.22 around 10:26 AM, reflecting an increase of 1,697.54 points. Interestingly, the day’s low for the KSE-100 index was also in the green, as the lowest level the PSX reached before 11:36 AM was 116,591.07 points, still up by 538.39 points from its previous closing of 116,052.68 points.

Among the KSE-100 companies trading in the green were JDWS, which was up by 10 per cent to 904.95, MEHT, which rose by 9.75 per cent to 652.20, ENGROH, which increased by 6.91 per cent to 279.80, EFUG, which climbed by 5.06 per cent to 119.97, and AICL, which was up 4.23 per cent to 53.70.

On the other hand, companies trading in the red included PGLC, which was down by 7.36 per cent to 21.01, LCI, which dropped by 1.88 per cent to 1,126.55, MTL, which fell by 1.06 per cent to 698.50, INIL, which decreased by 1.03 per cent to 177.00, and LOTCHEM, which was down by 0.85 per cent to 20.90.

Overall, the top advancers included PKGI, up by 11.24 per cent, FPRM, which rose by 10.79 per cent, JSBL, up by 10.63 per cent, SIBL, which gained 10.04 per cent, and IDRT, also up by 10.04 per cent.

Later, the PSX saw a day low as the KSE-100 index dropped by 166.12 points to 115,886.56 around 1:33 PM. At around 3:23 PM, the PSX was down to 113,847.003, losing over 2,205.65 points.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is currently at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) attending a ceremony honouring the exchange for being recognised as the second-best performing stock exchange globally in 2024.

During his day-long visit to Karachi, Prime Minister Shehbaz is also expected to meet with the Sindh chief minister and members of the business community.

Upon his arrival at Karachi’s Faisal Air Base, he was welcomed by Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori and Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah.

Read next: Bitcoin dips further, falls to new day low below $96.3k