PSX: buying continues, KSE-100 up nearly 2%

Buying rally continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) amid expectations that the losses US President Donald Trump’s Republican Party suffered in Congressional elections this week may reduce the risk ​of further escalation of the US-Israeli war on Iran.

At 9:45am, the benchmark index was hovering at 175,347.48, up 3,334.00 points or 1.94%.

Buying was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration and OMCs. Index-heavy stocks, including MARI, OGDC, PSO, SSGC, HUBCO, HB, MCB, MEBL and NBP, traded in the green.

On Wednesday, PSX staged a strong bullish session as a sharp decline in international oil prices and easing geopolitical concerns following the US midterm elections triggered broad-based buying. The benchmark KSE-100 Index advanced by 3,994.62 points, or 2.38%, to close at 172,013.48 points.

Globally, oil, chip stocks and the dollar were under pressure ​in Asia on Thursday and just about everything else was up after US voters swept the ‌Democrats to a series of stunning midterm election wins, a result that raised hopes for an end to the US-Iran war.

Brent crude futures dived nearly 9% overnight, falling below $100 a barrel.

Brent has dropped by about 20% so far this week. If sustained ​through to Friday’s close, it would make for the largest weekly drop in oil prices since ​a week in April 2020 when US crude briefly fell into negative territory.

Tumbling energy prices ⁠encouraged a rally in bonds, which lowered yields, pulled the dollar to a one-month low of $1.1273 per euro, ​and helped stocks.

Broad stock indexes climbed on the clear outcome, with the S&P 500 closing 1.6% higher and ​European shares notching a two-month high.

Solar supply chain stocks jumped the most, in anticipation of Democrats boosting support for renewables, while shares in data centre companies and their equipment suppliers across Asia fell on expectations of tougher regulation.

South Korea’s chipmaker-heavy KOSPI slid 4% ​and in morning trade was not far from hitting a seven-month low. Taiwan’s benchmark index fell 1.8%. Tech ​equipment suppliers dragged on the Nikkei, which fell 0.5%.

Democratic data-centre opponents who campaigned, in part, on moratoriums on data centre construction ‌won ⁠stunning victories in Texas and Georgia in a sign public opinion is shifting on AI.

To be sure, most analysts think it ultimately won’t dent demand for artificial intelligence, data centres or computer chips, but do now expect at least a temporary slowdown.

This is an intraday update