PSX: positive momentum continues, KSE-100 accumulates over 1,400 points

Strong buying continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), supported by corporate earnings and sustained institutional interest, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index closing with a gain of over 1,400 points.

The market witnessed a strong recovery during early trading, climbing towards the 167,500 level before paring some gains around midday.

The index subsequently rebounded in the afternoon session to close in positive territory.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 167,193.43 points, gaining 1,456.68 points or 0.88%.

“The market maintained its upward trajectory throughout the session, reflecting sustained buying interest across key sectors and an improvement in investor sentiment amid ongoing corporate earnings announcements,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.

“The positive momentum was primarily driven by renewed buying interest in heavyweight banking and fertiliser stocks, while encouraging market participation further reinforced the bullish sentiment.”

On the contribution front, Fauji Fertilizer Company (FFC), Engro Holdings (ENGROH), Habib Bank Limited (HBL), MCB Bank and United Bank Limited (UBL) emerged as the leading positive contributors, collectively adding approximately 924 points to the benchmark index, thereby providing substantial support to the overall market performance, Topline said.

On Wednesday, PSX extended its recovery as late-session buying lifted the market, supported by broad-based gains across major sectors. The benchmark KSE-100 Index advanced by 1,269.55 points, or 0.77%, to close at 165,736.76 points.

Internationally, Asian shares gave up earlier gains on Thursday as AI-related earnings announcements prompted wildly mixed responses, raising the stakes for ​Amazon and Intel results due later in the day.

Hefty cash burn from Alphabet sent its shares 10% lower in after-hours trading, ‌wiping nearly $400 billion off its market value.

That drove Nasdaq futures 1% lower. Microsoft, by contrast, beat forecasts with better-than-expected cash flows that lifted its shares by 3%.

Overnight, the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady as widely expected, but two committee members voted for a hike.

Chair Kevin Warsh struck a more confident note on the inflation outlook during his ​press conference, sparking a rally in Treasuries.

However, the bigger test came from earnings. Samsung Electronics said on Thursday its operating profit rose ​nearly ninefold to a record high in the third quarter, driven by robust demand for AI chips.

Its shares ⁠still slid more than 4% and dragged the broader KOSPI index down 2.6% after a nearly 7% surge a day earlier.

MSCI’s broadest index of ​Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.7%, while Japan’s Nikkei trimmed gains to be up 0.3%.

Mainland China’s blue chips fell 0.9% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ​index rose 0.2%.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee continued its marginal gain against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Thursday. The local unit closed the day at 276.76, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback.

Volume on the all-share index increased to 816.83 million from 578.12 million recorded in the previous close.

The value of shares rose to Rs31.54 billion from Rs26.20 billion in the previous session.

Cnergyico PK was the volume leader with 184.01 million shares, followed by Pervez Ahmed Co with 81.15 million shares, and K-Electric Ltd with 46.83 million shares.

Shares of 499 companies were traded on Thursday, of which 232 registered an increase, 232 recorded a fall, and 35 remained unchanged.