Stocks rebound as KSE-100 closes with 779 points gain

Buying interest returned at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index closing with a gain of 779 points during trading on Wednesday.

The KSE-100 started the session positive, hitting an intra-day high of 166,242.43. It was followed by selling pressure that pushed the index to an intra-day low of 164,731.91.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 165,930.99, up by 779.34 points or 0.47%.

Earlier, 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.

Volume on the all-share index decreased to 379.90 million from 446.84 million recorded in the previous close.

The value of shares rose to Rs21.28 billion from Rs19.43 billion in the previous session.

Pak Refinery was the volume leader with 49.41 million shares, followed by Cnergyico PK with 40.07 million shares, and Pervez Ahmed Co with 21.68 million shares.

Shares of 497 companies were traded on Wednesday, of which 225 registered an increase, 230 recorded a fall, and 42 remained unchanged.