KSE-100 Index gains over 1% to close all-time high

Buying rally continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday, with its benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining over 1% to close all-time high of 119,962 level.

The KSE-100 witnessed a positive momentum throughout the session, hitting an intra-day high of 119,990.30.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 119,961.91, a gain of 1425.39 points or 1.2% as compared to the previous day close.

“The bulls took charge of the local bourse today as the market surged to new heights, fuelled by optimism surrounding upcoming budget announcements,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.

“Refinery stocks ended the day in the green amid sector-specific developments. The government is working to finalise a binding legal framework between OMCs and refineries, with key clauses like take-or-pay aimed at resolving ongoing disputes over product upliftment and HSD imports — a move expected to bring greater clarity and stability to the supply chain.”

On the upside, heavyweights such as UBL, ENGRO, HUBC, EFERT, and MEBL led the charge, collectively contributing 656 points to the index, Topline said.

In a key development, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Wednesday said that it received the second tranche of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) 760 million, equivalent to $1.02 billion, from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

It added that the amount will be reflected in SBP’s foreign exchange reserves for the week ending May 16th, 2025.

Moreover, the Power Division is all set to brief the IMF virtually on circular debt development, annual rebasing outlook, power sector subsidy size and composition and carbon levy legislation on May 15-16, 2025.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government has made a series of new commitments to the IMF focused on reforming Pakistan’s energy sector — including both power and gas.

On Wednesday, the PSX experienced a volatile trading day, driven by strategic profit-taking. The benchmark KSE-100 Index lost 39.36 points, or 0.03%, to close at 118,536 points

Internationally, stocks struggled for direction on Thursday while the dollar stumbled as the euphoria from market tailwinds earlier in the week fizzled out, with traders looking to US data later in the day for further catalysts.

US Treasury yields were elevated and the benchmark 10-year yield rose to a one-month top, in part due to worries over President Donald Trump’s budget package that would add trillions of dollars to the US debt.

Investors were greeted with a plethora of good news earlier this week from a US-China trade-war truce to a raft of headline-grabbing investment deals from the Middle East during Trump’s Gulf tour, in moves that breathed new life into battered global stocks.

But most of the optimism died down by Thursday, leaving MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan little changed and Wall Street futures slightly lower after notching marginal gains during the overnight cash session.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee improved against the US dollar, appreciating 0.04% in the inter-bank market on Thursday. At close, the local currency settled at 281.61, a gain of Re0.11 against the greenback.

Volume on the all-share index increased to 698.96 million from 609.06 million recorded in the previous close.

However, the value of shares declined to Rs39.09 billion from Rs41.91 billion in the previous session.

Pak Refinery was the volume leader with 50.82 million shares, followed by Cnergyico PK with 47.57 million shares, and K-Electric Ltd with 40.25 million shares.

Shares of 458 companies were traded on Thursday, of which 312 registered an increase, 107 recorded a fall, while 39 remained unchanged.