KARACHI: The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) hit a new milestone on Thursday as the benchmark KSE-100 index surged past 108,000, closing at an all-time high of 108,238.96, marking a gain of 3,134.63 points or 2.98%.

The market saw broad-based buying throughout the session, with significant interest in sectors like oil and gas exploration, oil marketing companies (OMCs), refineries, power generation, fertilisers, and commercial banks. Key index-heavy stocks such as MARI, NRL, HUBCO, PSO, SNGPL, NBP, MEBL, and MCB saw strong gains, driving the overall market performance. According to Arif Habib Limited (AHL), the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) recorded a surge in market activity, with a traded value of Rs63 billion ($227 million), marking the highest trading volume since April 17, 2006.

Topline Securities noted that Thursday’s rally was the third-highest point gain in KSE-100 history, driven primarily by local institutional buying. Analysts attributed the market’s bullish performance to growing investor confidence, fueled by expectations of a reduction in the key policy rate at the upcoming Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on December 16, 2024. Local mutual funds were seen as the primary drivers of the rally, particularly in blue-chip stocks and high-cap sectors, which collectively contributed 1,303 points to the index’s performance. On Wednesday, the KSE-100 had also maintained its positive momentum, gaining 545.26 points to close at 105,104.34, its previous highest level. In the international markets, Asian stocks faced selling pressure as foreign investors withdrew $15.88 billion from regional equity markets in November, amid concerns over potential U.S. tariff hikes under the incoming Trump administration.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee remained stable, depreciating slightly by 0.01% to settle at 277.94 against the US dollar. Trading volume on the all-share index decreased slightly to 1,647 million shares, while the value of shares traded rose to Rs63.23 billion. B.O.Punjab led the volume chart with 163.46 million shares traded.