PSX closes at new record high despite fire incident

On Monday, a fire incident caused a temporary halt in trading at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), yet the benchmark KSE-100 index continued its bullish run, closing at a new record high.

The index remained relatively stable during the first hour of trading but faced a suspension from 10:25 am to 12:30 pm due to a fire outbreak at the main building, which houses several brokerage offices.

Once trading resumed, the market quickly regained momentum. The KSE-100 index surged to an intra-day high of 80,737.71 points, adding 524.92 points. By the close of trading, the benchmark index settled at 80,566.21 points, marking an increase of 353.41 points or 0.44 per cent.

Key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, and oil marketing companies, saw significant buying activity. Prominent stocks such as OGDC, PPL, PSO, SHEL, HBL, and NBP ended the day in positive territory.

The PSX had already been on a bullish trend the previous week, driven by aggressive buying from both local and foreign investors, as well as institutional support. The KSE-100 index had gained 1,767.83 points on a week-on-week basis, crossing the 80,000 mark to close at 80,212.79 points.