Buying rally continues at bourse, KSE-100 settles with nearly 1,300-point gain

Bullish momentum continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as investors cheered the ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index closing the session with a gain of nearly 1,300 points on Tuesday.

The stock market opened trading on a bullish note with the KSE-100 surging nearly 2,800 points, hitting an intra-day high of 120,067.12.

However, the momentum was short-lived as investors resorted to profit taking, market analysts told Business Recorder.

Buying returned during the final hours of the trading session, and at close, the benchmark index settled at 118,575.88, an increase of 1,278.15 points or 1.09%.

“The bullish momentum from the previous session carried forward, fuelled by robust institutional buying particularly from local mutual funds, as indicated by NCCPL data,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.

The key drivers of the rally included heavyweight stocks such as PPL, OGDC, LUCK, PSO, and MARI, which collectively contributed 1,177 points to the KSE-100 index’s upward trajectory, Topline said.

In a key development, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb in an interview with Reuters on Monday said that the federal budget for the next fiscal year, starting July, will be finalised within the next three to four weeks, with scheduled budget talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to take place from May 14-23, he said.

On Monday, the stock market staged a strong comeback, driven by a “convergence of positive developments” including a ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan, as well as the IMF’s approval of crucial funding. The KSE-100 gained 10,123 points, the highest-ever gain, to settle at 117,297.73.

Meanwhile, India’s benchmark indexes opened lower on Tuesday after logging their best day in more than four years, following a fragile ceasefire with Pakistan over the weekend.

The Nifty 50 was down 0.52% at 24,784.95 and the BSE Sensex lost 0.64% to 81,900.2 as of 9:25am IST.

Eight of the 13 major sectors logged losses at the open. The broader small-caps and mid-caps traded about 0.2% higher each.

The Nifty 50 and Sensex soared nearly 4% in a broad-based relief rally on Monday after India and Pakistan reached and held a ceasefire following days of cross-border clashes.

According to analysts, the benchmarks will likely consolidate after Monday’s rally.

Global investor sentiment is upbeat after the U.S. and China agreed to temporarily slash harsh reciprocal tariffs and cooperate to avoid rupturing the global economy.

MSCI’s Asia ex Japan index traded 0.3% higher on Monday, following a 2% jump in the previous session amid trade optimism.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee slipped lower against the US dollar, depreciating 0.04% in the inter-bank market on Tuesday. At close, the local currency settled at 281.67, a loss of Re0.10 against the greenback.

Volume on the all-share index decreased to 684.29 million from 732.88 million recorded in the previous close.

However, the value of shares rose to Rs52.59 billion from Rs30.38 billion in the previous session.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 41.73 million shares, followed by Maple Leaf with 41.05 million shares, and Sui South Gas with 35.77 million shares.

Shares of 462 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 221 registered an increase, 194 recorded a fall, while 47 remained unchanged.