Bulls lead Pakistan Stock Exchange to hit historic 150,000 mark

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) achieved a historic milestone on Tuesday as the benchmark index crossed the 150,000 mark for the first time after Fitch Ratings forecasts Pakistan's GDP growth to reach 3.5pc by 2027 as inflation eases, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

At the end of the day, the KSE-100 index lost steam and shed a few hundred points limiting the gains for the day. The index gained 1,574.32 points or 1.05 points to close at a new all-time high of 149,770.74 points.

Of the total 482 companies traded today, share prices of 264 companies went up, and those of 194 companies went down, and 34 remained unchanged.

Earlier, Moody’s Ratings upgraded Pakistan’s local and foreign currency issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings from Caa2 to Caa1, also raising the rating for the senior unsecured Medium-Term Note (MTN) programme from (P)Caa2 to (P)Caa1.

Experts attribute the upward momentum to growing confidence in the country's financial stability and potential improvements in credit conditions.

Earlier on Monday, the KSE-100 Index had witnessed a bullish trend, gaining 1,704.79 points, a positive of 1.16 percent, closing at 148,196.42 points.

A total of 610,314,508 shares were traded during the day as compared to  473,601,407 shares on the previous trading day, whereas the price of shares stood at Rs39.173 billion against Rs 32.882 billion on the last trading day.

As many as 487 companies transacted their shares in the stock market, 283 of them recorded gains and 175 sustained losses, whereas the share price of 29 companies remained unchanged.

The three top trading companies were WorldCall Telecom with 40,719,854 shares at Rs1.40 per share, Pervez Ahmed Company with 29,750,970 shares at Rs2.82 per share and Al-Shaheer Corporation with 26,351,931 shares at Rs12.24 per share.

Hoechst Pakistan Limited witnessed a maximum increase of Rs323.88 per share price, closing at Rs3,830.59, whereas the runner-up was PIA Holding Company LimitedB with Rs186.13 rise in its per share price to Rs28,001.10.

Nestle Pakistan Limited witnessed a maximum decrease of Rs259.15 per share closing at Rs8,394.94 followed by Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited with Rs100.00 decline in its share price to close at Rs31,900.00.

Meanwhile, in the future market, as many as 323 companies traded shares in the market, out of which 213 witnessed gains, 102 loss where the prices of 8 companies remained unchanged.

Reporter: Kawish Memon