Positive sentiments return, KSE-100 gains nearly 3.3%

After days of selling pressure, positive sentiments returned at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index staging an impressive recovery following a gain of nearly 3.3% on Wednesday.

The benchmark index opened in positive territory and quickly extended gains during early trade, surging toward the 177,000 level amid strong buying interest.

However, profit-taking was observed during the afternoon session, pushing the index towards 175,000–175,500 level.

Buying momentum reemerged in the final hours of trading and the index rallied sharply to hit an intra-day high of 178,974.16.

At close, the KSE-100 Index settled at 178,853.09, an increase of 5702.68 points or 3.29%.

Support from major heavyweights—UBL, HBL, MEBL, NBP, and MCB—underpinned the market’s performance, jointly adding 2,699 points to the benchmark. In contrast, POL, PIOC, and AICL weighed on the index, collectively trimming 163 points, brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.

Pakistan’s current account returned to surplus in January 2026, supported by higher inflows of workers’ remittances.

According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the current account posted a surplus of $121 million in January 2026, compared with a deficit of $265 million in December 2025. On a year-on-year basis, the external balance also improved, as it also posted $393 million deficit in January 2025.

On Tuesday, PSX remained under pressure, extending its losing streak as sustained selling by foreign and local participants weighed heavily on equities amid broad-based weakness across the banking, energy, power, and telecom sectors. The KSE-100 Index declined by 1,303.52 points, or 0.75%, to close at 173,150.42 points.

Internationally, Asian stocks pushed higher on Wednesday despite the renewed artificial intelligence worries gripping international markets, while oil prices were under pressure after Iran touted progress in nuclear negotiations with the United States.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.93% to 57,090.14, poised to snap a three-day skid, while Australia’s S&P/ASX200 was up 0.5%.

Mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea were among the markets closed for Lunar New Year holidays.

The positive start in Asia followed a lacklustre session on Tuesday on Wall Street as investors grappled with the outlook for the AI boom.

Concerns that companies are over-investing, along with angst about the extent to which the nascent technology could disrupt labour markets, have fuelled investor jitters in recent weeks.

In the US overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.07% to 49,533.19, the S&P 500 was up 0.10% at 6,843.2,2 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.14% to 22,578.38. The S&P 500 fell 0.88% initially before making up ground to close in positive territory.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee registered marginal gain against the US dollar, appreciaiting 0.01% in the inter-bank market on Wednesday. At close, the local currency settled at 279.57, a gain of Re0.03 against the greenback.

Volume on the all-share index declined to 697.68 million from 716.03 million recorded in the previous close.

The value of shares increased to Rs50.00 billion from Rs40.47 billion in the previous session.

K-Electric Ltd was the volume leader with 116.97 million shares, followed by B.O. Punjab with 71.11 million shares, and Pak Petroleum with 27.58 million shares.

Shares of 484 companies were traded on Wednesday, of which 334 registered an increase, 103 recorded a fall, while 47 remained unchanged.