The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued its upward trend on Wednesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index crossing over the historic 175,000-point milestone in early trading.

During the trading session, the KSE-100 Index rose by over 700 points, reaching a high of 175,232 points, its highest level ever.

Earlier in the day, the index had climbed 208 points to 174,681.

At the close of trading on Tuesday, the KSE-100 Index had ended at 174,472 points, highlighting the market’s continued bullish momentum as the year comes to a close.

Buying was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and power generation.

Index-heavy stocks, including HUBCO, MARI, POL, PPL, OGDC, PSO, HBL, MEBL and MCB, traded in the green.

Asian markets slipped mostly into red on Wednesday, the final trading session of 2025, as investors remained cautious ahead of the New Year holiday and took cues from Wall Street losses.In Hong Kong, HSI slipped over 224 points to 25,630. Nikkai was also trading at a loss, shedding 187 points or 0.3%. Shanghai and Shenzhen were also down 0.07% and 0.67% at 10:35 AM IST. South Korea’s Kospi was also down 6 points to trade at 4,214. With the holiday season keeping participation low, trading volumes across the region remained thin. Commodities offered a steadier picture, with precious metals holding their ground after retreating from record levels seen earlier in the week. The uneven performance followed a muted session in the United States, where major Wall Street indices finished slightly lower on Tuesday. Investor unease over stretched valuations in artificial intelligence (AI)-linked stocks continued to weigh on sentiment. Even so, US markets were still set to deliver solid gains for the full year, a trend mirrored across much of Asia. Regional markets benefited from a combination of easing monetary conditions and a powerful rally in technology shares. In China, fresh official data showed factory activity edged up marginally in December, offering a rare positive signal at the close of an otherwise subdued year for the world’s second-largest economy. A key driver of the year’s global market strength has been the US Federal Reserve’s shift towards monetary easing in the latter half of 2025, alongside a flood of investment into AI-related technologies. Minutes from the Fed’s December policy meeting revealed that most officials consider further interest rate cuts appropriate, provided inflation continues to cool as anticipated. Precious metals have been among the most volatile assets in recent days, lifted by their demand as safe-haven investments amid ongoing geopolitical tensions. Gold and silver both touched record highs last week before pulling back.