The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a massive 2300-point rally, allowing the benchmark index of the exchange, KSE-100 index, to cross 124,500 points, setting a new all-time high. According to reports, shares climbed rapidly on Wednesday as investors were pleased by the Federal Budget that was announced on Tuesday.

 

Even prior to the release of the budget, investor confidence remained high as the KSE-100 gained 400 points during intraday trading on Tuesday. Reports suggest that the lack of new taxes in the budget on the stock market allowed bullish sentiments to take over the market.

 

Moreover, the government has reportedly decided to tax dividends from equities and debt at a rate of 15 percent and 25 percent, respectively. Coupling this with the tax rate on proceeds from debt rising from 15 percent to 20 percent has reduced the incentive for people to park their funds in banks. Analysts have highlighted that these developments are going to help the capital market.

 

These developments caused the index to open in the green in the early hours of the day, with the upwards momentum continuing until closing hours. The KSE-100 index reached an intraday high of 124,588.17 points. The index peaked at approximately 3:30 PM, after which the market closed at a lower, yet respectable, 124,352.68 points.

 

For reference, the KSE-100 closed at 122,024.44 points on Tuesday, after which the index recorded a growth of 1.91 percent during trading hours on Wednesday, leading to a 2,328.24 point rise. The market displayed a slowdown around 9:48 AM as the KSE-100 hit its intraday trading low of 123,237.99 points.

 

All 17 indexes listed on the exchange remained in the green with the All-share index (ALLSHR) growing by 1.53 percent, which translates into a 1,167.03 point rise in the index. Unlike the KSE-100, which tracks the performance of the 100 largest and most liquid companies, the ALLSHR index records the performance of all publicly listed companies on the PSX.

 

A number of companies witnessed a rise in share prices, with Pervez Ahmed Consultancy Services Ltd. (PASL) and Dewan Farooque Spinning Mills Limited (DFSM) winning big, to the tune of growth rates that sat at 32.45 percent (PASL) and 27.17 percent (DFSM). 

 

However, not every publicly listed stock witnessed an improvement, as many companies witnessed sharp declines. Of these declining companies, the one that fared the worst during intra-day trading wasPak Leather Crafts Limited (PAKL), which posted a 10.00 percent decline in its position.

 

Recent reports have suggested that the KSE-100 index could cross 165,000 points by December 2025, owing to a drop in interest rates and an improved state of the wider economy. These factors are responsible for creating a business-friendly environment, lending weight to analysts’ claims.