KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) experienced strong buying momentum on Monday, with the KSE-100 Index closing up by 1,945.50 points, or 1.22%, amid improved market sentiment. The index settled at 161,538.40, supported by positive macroeconomic indicators and investor optimism.
The rally was driven by renewed confidence following the Economic Coordination Committee’s (ECC) approval of a comprehensive plan to address circular debt. This included sovereign guarantees for commercial loans and the diversion of gas supplies to fertilizer plants, which spurred broad-based buying, particularly in index-heavy stocks such as ENGROH, FFC, EFERT, OGDC, and PPL. These stocks contributed 1,243 points to the benchmark index.
On the downside, stocks like PSEL, UBL, AGP, and MEBL collectively detracted 199 points from the index.
In other developments, Pakistan reported a budget surplus of Rs 2.1 trillion, or 1.6% of GDP, for the first quarter of FY2025-26, further supporting positive sentiment.
Looking ahead, Topline Securities projected the KSE-100 Index to reach 203,000 points by December 2026, with an expected total return of 26%, including a 7% dividend yield.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee gained marginally against the US dollar, closing at 280.81, up by Re0.01. Trading volume on the all-share index increased to 783.29 million shares, with a total value of Rs36.37 billion. F. Nat. Equities led the volume chart with 73.71 million shares traded.
A total of 477 companies were traded on Monday, with 292 seeing gains, 136 experiencing declines, and 49 remaining unchanged.
