KARACHI: Despite uncer­tainties surrounding the taxation measures ahead of the announcement of the federal budget 2025-26 later in the day, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) remained bullish in the first session following the Eid break, driving the benchmark KSE index to an all-time high above the 122,000-barrier on Tuesday.

Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation stated that the market reached an all-time high, driven by blue-chip stocks, as investors expected a record budget outlay with higher allocation for the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) to support industries in the next fiscal year.

He added that surging global crude oil prices, IMF approval for banking loans to resolve the over Rs2tr gas circular debt crisis, and speculation over the rationalisation of import tariffs contributed to the bullish close at the PSX.

According to brokerage Topline Securities Ltd, the stock market experienced a range-bound session, with the index fluctuating within a narrow band amid uncertainty surrounding the budget announcement. The index recorded an intraday high of 970 points and a low of 51 points, eventually closing at 122,024.44 — a gain of 383 points or 0.32pc.

The positive momentum was largely supported by strong performances from Fauji Fertiliser, Packages Ltd, Bank Al-Habib, Meezan Bank, and Bank Alfalah, which collectively contributed 499 points to the index.

Trading activity weakened as the trading volume declined 30.61pc to 592.95 million shares, while the traded value decreased 15.37pc to Rs21.82 billion day-on-day.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Cnergyico PK (61.37m shares), K-Electric (59.08m shares), Dewan Cement (45.55m shares), Fauji Foods (30.08m shares) and PIA Holding Company (24.74m shares).

The shares registering the most significant incr­eases in their share prices in absolute terms were Sapphire Fibres (Rs96.67), Sapphire Tex­tile (Rs43.08), Otsuka Pakistan (Rs36.42), Mac­ter International (Rs34.88) and Pak Datacom (Rs34.49).

The companies registering significant decreases in their share prices in absolute terms were PIA Holding Co [B] (Rs2,879.00), Khyber Textile (Rs273.52), Rafhan Maize (Rs142.78), Nestle Pakistan (Rs88.61) and Unilever Foods (Rs62.25).

Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2025