Buying continues at PSX, KSE-100 up 1.6%

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) maintained its upward trajectory on Thursday, with aggressive buying lifting the benchmark KSE-100 Index by over 1.6%.

The benchmark quickly moved into positive territory after the opening bell, touching an intra-day low of 175,672.33 before extending gains to an intra-day high of 178,431.73, indicating broad-based investor confidence and sustained demand across key sectors.

The bulls remained firmly in control for most of the trading session, with only minor bouts of profit-taking. The index traded near its session high in the closing hours, indicating a lack of significant selling pressure.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 178,123.56, up by 2,837.78 points or 1.62%.

“Improved investor sentiment, easing concerns over geopolitical tensions, and renewed interest in blue-chip stocks helped the index recover a significant portion of the losses recorded earlier this week,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.

On the index contribution front, heavyweight stocks ENGROH, UBL, MEBL, HUBC, and LUCK emerged as the top contributors, collectively adding approximately 967 points to the benchmark index’s overall gain, it added.

On Wednesday, PSX staged a strong recovery as bargain hunters returned to the market following the previous session’s sharp sell-off. However, investors remained cautious amid persistent geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. The KSE-100 Index gained 1,766.97 points, or 1.02%, to close at 175,285.78 points.

Internationally, Asian shares fell on Thursday as chipmakers stumbled ahead of results ​from bellwether TSMC, while bonds benefited from another benign reading on US inflation that lessened the risk of an ‌imminent rate hike.

Oil prices rose over 1% on Thursday as concerns over Middle East ‌energy supplies increased after Iran asked Yemen’s Houthis to stand ready to close the Red Sea oil route.

Brent crude futures were up 88 cents, or 1.04%, to $85.83 a barrel at 1237 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate futures were up 94 cents, or ​1.18%, to $80.54 a barrel.

All eyes are on the quarterly earnings from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s largest manufacturer of advanced AI chips. The company is expected to notch a fifth consecutive quarter ​of record earnings, with a 59% surge in net profit for April-June.

However, investors are proving hard to ⁠please as shares of ASML, the world’s dominant supplier of equipment needed to make high-tech computer chips, finished 0.4% lower even after it ​raised its 2026 sales forecasts and pledged a capacity boost.

The selling split over to Asia. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slid 1.7% as South Korea’s KOSPI slumped 6.3% on weakness from Samsung, down 8%, and SK Hynix, down ​11%.

Japan’s Nikkei dropped 3%. Taiwanese shares fell 0.5%, while China’s Hang Seng Index gained 1.2%.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee posted marginal gain, appreciating 0.01%, against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Thursday. At close, the local currency settled at 277.97, a gain of Re0.03 against the greenback.

Volume on the all-share index increased to 736.95 million from 583.80 million recorded in the previous close.

The value of shares rose to Rs34.61 billion from Rs26.04 billion in the previous session.

Lotte Chemical was the volume leader with 70.09 million shares, followed by TPL Properties with 52.57 million shares, and Ittefaq Iron Ind with 35.22 million shares.

Shares of 496 companies were traded on Thursday, of which 342 registered an increase, 129 recorded a fall, and 25 remained unchanged.