PSX: stocks surge, KSE-100 up over 1,000 points in early trading

Buying interest returned at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining over 1,000 points during the opening minutes of trading on Wednesday.

At 9:58am, the benchmark index was hovering at 166,176.01, up 1,024.37 points or 0.62%.

Buying was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and power generation. Index-heavy stocks, including ARL, HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, PPL, POL, SSGC, SNGPL, HBL, MEBL, NBP and UBL, traded in the green.

On Tuesday, PSX extended its decline as persistent selling pressure, cautious investor sentiment and lingering macroeconomic and geopolitical concerns dragged the index down. The benchmark KSE-100 Index fell by 814.44 points, or 0.49%, to close at 165,151.64 points.

Globally, Asian stocks rose, and bonds stabilised at the start of trading ​on Wednesday following Wall Street’s gain as early indications from the corporate earnings season pointed to strong profits for ‌global companies and bolstered investor confidence.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 1.5%, led by a 4% gain for Korean shares, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 1.3%. S&P 500 e-mini futures rose 0.3%.

Stocks in the region have steadied since a wrenching selloff last week but have traded in a tight range ​since then.

However, French stocks fell as fears remained around the government’s plans to curb recent unrest. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said the government would reinforce police with a “massive” deployment of troops to quell protests planned for Saturday.

In emerging markets, ​traders are awaiting a decision from Indonesia’s central bank, which is battling to halt the rupiah’s slide following a market rout from an MSCI warning that it may exclude the ​country’s stocks from its major benchmarks.

This is an intraday update