KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange extended its sharp recovery in a powerful relief-driven rally as easing geopolitical tensions and renewed hopes of US–Iran diplomatic engagement triggered aggressive buying across the board.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index closed at 165,634.85 points, compared to the previous close of 160,591.33 points, gaining 5,043.51 points or 3.14 percent, with intraday movement between 163,416.54 and 165,763.81 points.
The BRIndex also mirrored the bullish trend, with BRIndex100 closing at 18,672.74 points, up 651.04 points or 3.61% from the previous close, on a total volume of 648.542 million shares. The BRIndex30 closed at 65,989.22 points, gaining 2,981.97 points or 4.73%, with total volume recorded at 503.749 million shares.
According to Ali Najib, Deputy Head of Trading at Arif Habib Limited, the rally was primarily fueled by “improving geopolitical calm after expectations of renewed diplomatic talks, combined with institutional buying in blue-chip stocks following the previous session’s panic-driven sell-off,” while additional support came from Saudi Arabia’s $3 billion financial assistance to Pakistan, which further strengthened market sentiment and stability.
Market capitalization witnessed a strong expansion during the session, increasing to Rs 18.306 trillion from Rs 17.802 trillion in the previous trading day. This reflects an increase of approximately Rs 0.503 trillion in a single session.
Overall trading activity remained robust as total ready market turnover rose to 824.539 million shares, compared to 743.228 million shares in the previous session.
Market breadth remained strongly positive, with 389 stocks advancing against 64 declining and 34 unchanged.
WorldCall Telecom led the overall volume chart with 100.188 million shares, followed by Bank of Punjab with 87.03 million and F. Nat. Equities with the volume of 62.63 million shares, reflecting strong retail and institutional participation in mid-tier counters.
Notable gainers included PIA Holding Company Limited-B and Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited, while selective profit-taking was seen in sugar stocks. While, Tandlianwala Sugar Mills Limited and Shahtaj Sugar Mills Limited were the major loosers of the day.
Among sectoral BR indices, Automobile Assemblers led strong gains as the BR Automobile Assembler Index closed at 24,867.94 points, up 1,141.02 points or 4.81%, on a turnover of 5.53 million shares. The BR Cement Index surged to 11,858.61 points, gaining 667.20 points or 5.96%, with total turnover of 55.8 million shares.
The BR Commercial Banks Index closed at 56,896.84 points, rising 1,535.88 points or 2.77%, with turnover of 104.249 million shares. The BR Power Generation and Distribution Index closed at 27,193.31 points, up 886.92 points or 3.37%, with total turnover of 73.32 million shares, while the BR Oil and Gas Index gained 286.50 points or 2.04% to close at 14,306.86 points, with turnover of 46.449 million shares.
The BR Tech & Communication Index also advanced, closing at 3,682.96 points, up 103.45 points or 2.89, with total turnover of 162.123 million shares.
Overall, the session reflected a decisive bullish reversal driven by geopolitical relief, improved liquidity conditions, and strong institutional participation, reinforcing positive near-term market sentiment.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026