Pakistan stocks jump to a record high of 86,206 points

Pakistan stocks jumped to a record 86,206 points on Wednesday, driven by optimism after the successful Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.

The summit boosted hopes for regional stability, enhancing market confidence. Strong corporate earnings also contributed to a broad rally across various sectors.

Lalpir Power, Nishat Power, and Nishat Chunian Power surged after the government announced plans to release outstanding payments and proposed new payment options for 18 Independent Power Producers.

This news further boosted the power sector, adding to the market's momentum.

The KSE-100 index gained 0.43% or 365.32 points to close at 86,205.66 points.

Indian shares dropped for the second day in a row on Wednesday because foreign funds are moving their investments to China.

Beijing's economic stimulus has attracted global fund managers to China. As a result, foreign investors have withdrawn $7.9 billion from Indian stocks in October, the most since March 2020.

Market stayed mostly flat with a slight downward trend due to worries about a possible downgrade in FY25 earnings, which might affect their high valuation.

India’s BSE 100 Index lost 0.34% or 365.32 points to close at 26,522.36 points.

The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) General Index gained 0.35% or 15.73 points to close at 4,485.30 points.

Commodities

Oil prices rose slightly in early trade on Wednesday. Later, demand concerns caused prices to drop.

On Tuesday, oil prices had dropped over 4% to a near two-week low because of a weaker demand outlook and reports that Israel would not strike Iranian nuclear and oil sites, easing supply disruption fears.

Brent crude prices fell 0.65% to $73.77 per barrel.

Gold prices continued their bullish spree on Wednesday. Traders expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates further.

Lower rates benefit gold since it doesn't yield like bonds and increases economic liquidity and reduces public borrowing costs.

Besides, ongoing Middle East tensions have also maintained gold's safe-haven demand.

International gold prices increased 0.71% reaching $2,679.6 per ounce. In Pakistan, gold prices decreased by PKR 2,200 to PKR 277,200/tola on Wednesday.

Currency

US dollar gained some ground against PKR, up 0.02% in the inter-bank market. Pakistani currency settled at 277.84, a loss of 10 paisas against the US dollar. In the open market USD was trading at PKR 280.