962-point rally tosses PSX near 64,000

The benchmark index of the stock market crossed the psychological barrier of 64,000 points in intraday trading on Wednesday before closing at yet another all-time high. Topline Securities said bulls left little space for bears to operate as strong buying across the board kept up the momentum throughout business hours. However, investors’ sentiments changed for specific sectors from the preceding session. Most favourite sectors on Wednesday for value hunters were technology, exploration and production and banking. Arif Habib Ltd CEO Shahid Ali Habib said the index has gained 54.5 per cent since Pakistan signed a loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in June. The value of all shares listed on the exchange has also gone up 46pc since the end of June to $32bn versus $22bn at the end of 2022-23, he said. “Foreign activity has also increased in the market with a net buy of $50 million in 2023-24 to date,” he added. As a result, the KSE-100 index closed at 63,917.72 points after gaining 961.70 points or 1.53pc from the preceding session.