PSX surges to all-time high, breaches 85,000 milestone

Bulls continued their stampede on the trade floor as shares at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) breached a new record of 85,000 in intraday trade on Monday. The benchmark KSE-100 index climbed 712.77 points, or 0.85 per cent, to stand at 84,244.72 from the previous close of 83,531.95 points at 12:21pm. Finally, the index closed 84,910.29 points, up by 1378.34 points or 1.65pc, from the previous close. Yousuf M Farooq, director research at Chase Securities, said, “Falling yields have spurred increased interest in the stock market, as lower fixed-income returns have driven investors to seek higher yields in equities.” Additionally, he highlighted that “a quarter-on-quarter decline in receivables” for companies such as Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) and Pakistan State Oil (PSO) attracted attention to the oil and gas sector.