KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a powerful bullish session on Thursday as improved investor confidence, fueled by optimism surrounding ongoing United States-Iran negotiations and a decline in international oil prices, triggered aggressive buying.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 3,683.02 points or 2.23 percent on a day-on-day basis to settle at a historic 168,514.45 points compared to the previous close of 164,831.42 points. During the session, the index touched an intraday high of 168,869.18 points while the day’s low stood at 166,638.56 points.
BRIndex100 closed at 18,508.78, registering a gain of 462.18 points or 2.56 percent with a total traded volume of 443.62 million shares. BRIndex30 closed at 67,597.86 points after gaining 1,797.56 points or 2.73 percent, with turnover reaching 248.30 million shares.
According to Ali Najib, Deputy Head of Trading at Arif Habib Limited, the PSX recorded an exceptionally strong session as optimism over US-Iran negotiations and lower oil prices strengthened investor sentiment. He said rumors regarding diplomatic progress between the two countries, along with reports that Tehran had acknowledged a revised US proposal, significantly improved market confidence.
He further pointed out that heavyweight stocks including United Bank Limited, Fauji Fertilizer Company, Lucky Cement, Habib Bank Limited, and Hub Power Company remained major contributors to the rally, collectively adding 1,609 points to the benchmark index and helping sustain the bullish trajectory.
Market capitalization recorded a significant increase, rising to Rs18.662 trillion compared to Rs18.243 trillion in the previous session, reflecting renewed investor confidence. In the regular market, turnover surged to 729.40 million shares from 386.39 million shares recorded a day earlier, while traded value jumped sharply to Rs34.99 billion against Rs20.13 billion previously.
Market breadth strongly favored advancing shares across all trading boards. In the Ready Market, 330 companies advanced, 120 declined and 40 remained unchanged out of 490 active companies.
Activity in the trading ring remained concentrated in high-volume stocks. Hascol Petroleum led the ready market turnover chart with 57.00 million shares, closing at Rs23.97. Sitara Petroleum followed with 56.52 million shares, remaining unchanged at Rs20.79. Aisha Steel Mill traded 31.04 million shares to settle at Rs12.25.
On the gainers’ board, PIA Holding Company LimitedB emerged as the top performer, soaring by Rs524.50 to close at Rs18,300.00, followed by Khairpur Sugar Mills Limited, which gained Rs191.72 to settle at Rs2,108.92.
On the losing side, JDW Sugar Mills Limited registered the steepest decline, shedding Rs14.21 to close at Rs900.66, while Hoechst Pakistan Limited lost Rs11.54 to settle at Rs4,010.00.
Among sectoral BR indices, the Automobile Assembler Index gained 147.46 points or 0.55 percent to close at 26,817.12 points with total turnover of 4.14 million shares. The BR Cement Index advanced by 385.85 points or 3.46 percent to settle at 11,536.20 points with turnover of 38.39 million shares.
The BR Commercial Banks Index posted a robust increase of 1,392.06 points or 2.52 percent to close at 56,595.03 points with trading volume of 54.51 million shares. The BR Power Generation and Distribution Index rose by 687.77 points or 2.52 percent to settle at 27,939.94 points with turnover of 48.67 million shares.
Similarly, the BR Oil and Gas Index increased by 418.67 points or 2.86 percent to close at 15,057.63 points on trading volume of 152.31 million shares, while the BR Tech and Communication Index gained 78.33 points or 2.12 percent to settle at 3,781.67 points with turnover of 79.96 million shares.
Looking ahead, Ali Najib said developments surrounding US-Iran relations would remain a key catalyst for market direction in the coming sessions.
He added that continued diplomatic engagement and backchannel negotiations are expected to keep investors focused on geopolitical developments, which may continue shaping near-term market sentiment and trading activity.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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