KSE-100 rebounds over 1,800 points as buying returns to PSX

After a punishing sell-off a day earlier, buying returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday, with the KSE-100 Index closing at an increase of more than 1800 points from the last close.

According to the PSX website, the market opened on a positive note and the KSE-100 climbed to the day’s highest level of 186,619.51. The market closed at 184,174.48 points, an increase 1,836.36 points or 1.01%, from the previous close of 182,338.12.

Widespread gains were observed across the key sectors, including commercial banks, cement, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration, oil marketing companies, power generation and refineries. Index-heavy stocks including ARL, HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, POL, PPL, PSO, SSGC, SNGPL, MCB, MEBL, NBP and UBL, traded in positive territory.

The rebound followed a sharp decline on Thursday, when the KSE-100 Index fell 6,042.27 points, or 3.21%, to close at 182,338.12 amid broad-based selling across heavyweight stocks. The sell-off was driven by weak corporate earnings, unwinding of speculative positions and profit-taking.

International markets remained volatile. Asian stocks were mixed in early trade on Friday after US President Donald Trump endorsed a bipartisan deal to avert a government shutdown and commented on plans for the next Federal Reserve leadership.

MSCI’s Asia-Pacific index excluding Japan fluctuated before slipping 0.2%, though it remained on track for its strongest monthly performance in more than three years. US equity futures were lower, with S&P 500 e-mini futures down 0.4% and Nasdaq e-mini futures off 0.5%.

On Wall Street, stocks closed lower on Thursday after muted earnings from Microsoft raised concerns over returns from artificial intelligence investments. The S&P 500 fell 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.7%. Earnings season in the US has been mixed, with around three-quarters of reporting companies beating estimates so far.