PSX rebounds as KSE-100 jumps over 4,000 points

Bulls returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday, reversing early selling pressure as the benchmark KSE-100 Index gained more than 4,000 points by the close.

As per the PSX website, the market opened the session on a bearish trend due to continuous selling pressure, with the benchmark index shedding over 1,600 points in the early minutes of trade. At 11:00 am, the market started recovering its early losses, and the index touched the highest level of 169,374.27.

Buying was seen across major sectors, including automobile assemblers, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration, oil marketing companies, power generatio,n and refineries. 

Heavyweight stocks such as Pakistan State Oil, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines, Attock Refinery Limited, Hub Power Company, Mari Petroleum, Oil and Gas Development Company, Pakistan Petroleum Limited, Wah Noble Chemicals, Habib Bank Limited and Meezan Bank traded in positive territory.

At the end of the session, the market settled at 168,893.08, with an increase of 4266.79 points or 2.59% from the previous close.

The rebound followed a broad-based decline on Wednesday, when the KSE-100 closed at 164,626.29, down 1,632.25 points or 0.98%, amid selling pressure and futures rollover activity.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund has begun its third review of Pakistan under the Extended Fund Facility programme. An IMF delegation arrived in Karachi on Wednesday and is scheduled to start formal discussions with Pakistani authorities in Islamabad from Monday. The review will assess performance criteria, fiscal targets and macroeconomic indicators agreed under the programme.

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said concerns regarding the rollover of deposits from the United Arab Emirates are unfounded. He said the review would cover all agreed benchmarks and expressed confidence in the country’s position, particularly in tax collection.

The minister said discussions would focus on the performance of the Federal Board of Revenue and that the government would brief the IMF team on progress against agreed targets. He added that Pakistan remains in close contact with UAE authorities and there is no issue regarding extension of the deposits.

He said the government continues to implement the financing plan agreed with the IMF and remains committed to meeting its obligations under the programme.

In regional markets, Asian stocks advanced after stronger-than-expected earnings guidance from Nvidia eased concerns over artificial intelligence-related spending. Japan’s Nikkei hit a record high, South Korea’s KOSPI gained 2%, and MSCI’s Asia-Pacific index excluding Japan rose 0.7%.

Oil prices remained elevated amid geopolitical tensions between the United States and Iran ahead of further diplomatic talks.