KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Index, led by buying activity in index-heavy shares, crossed 80,000 level. KSE-100 started session with buying spree that continued throughout session, taking index to an intra-day high of 80,587.44.

At close, benchmark index settled at 80,461.34, up by 970.20 points or 1.22 percent. Broad-based buying was observed in blue-chip stocks, where heavyweights such as MARI, EFERT, UBL, MEBL, and FFC posted significant gains, collectively contributing to notable 682-point rise, brokerage house Topline Securities said. Volume on all-share index fell to 400.19 million from 536.19 million on Monday. However, value of shares jumped to Rs 15.9 billion from Rs 8.91 billion in previous session. WorldCall Telecom was volume leader with 32.23 million shares, followed by TRG Pak Ltd with 22.08 million shares and Pace (Pak) Ltd. with 19.65 million shares. Shares of 439 companies were traded on Wednesday, of which 186 registered an increase, 199 recorded fall while 54 remained unchanged.

Globally, Asian markets swung between gains and losses Wednesday as traders tried to ascertain how big an expected Federal Reserve interest rate cut would be later in day, while dollar held gains against yen after forecast-beating US data. Wall Street had tepid day, with many investors keeping their powder dry until the Fed's decision and boss Jerome Powell's post-meeting statement later Wednesday.