KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday extended its positive momentum for the third session in a row, as select value buying helped the benchmark KSE 100 index briefly cross the 185,000 milestone in intraday trading amid persistent economic optimism. However, late profit-taking trimmed some of the early gains.
Topline Securities Ltd said the benchmark KSE-100 index extended its gains on Thursday, closing at 184,520.96 points, up 470.86 points, or 0.26 per cent, from the previous session.
The market opened strongly and rallied, reaching an intraday high of 185,890.52 points as buying interest remained robust across key sectors. However, profit-taking emerged in the second half of the session, pushing the index to an intraday low of 184,214.79 points. Selective late-session buying then helped the market recover, closing in positive territory.
On the index contribution front, heavyweight stocks United Bank Ltd, Lucky Cement, Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd, Pakistan Petroleum Ltd, and TRG Pakistan were the main contributors to the benchmark index’s gains, collectively adding approximately 469 points to the day’s advance.
Investor participation remained healthy, with trading volume rising 5.65pc to 994.75 million shares. However, the traded value dipped 2.27pc to Rs55.7 billion.
On the economic front, the country posted a trade deficit of $4.5bn in June, the highest monthly deficit recorded in the last four years, due to a 26pc year-on-year surge in imports to $6.8bn and a 10pc decline in exports to $2.2bn.
However, oil marketing companies (OMCs) reported a 20pc decline in sales to 1.26m tonnes in June, down 20pc year-on-year and up 7pc month-on-month.
The year-on-year decrease was due to relatively higher fuel prices, while the month-on-month rise was due to falling fuel prices.
Meanwhile, the government raised Rs438bn via a fixed Pakistan Investment Bonds auction, both competitive and non-competitive, against a target of Rs350bn and with participation of Rs1,938bn. The cut-off yields were reduced by 47-70bps across different tenors.
Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2026
