Buying interest returns, KSE-100 gains over 1%

A day after suffering one of its worst trading sessions, buying interest returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining over 1% on Wednesday.

The index opened on a strong note and quickly surged to an intra-day high of 176,701.38, driven by aggressive buying.

Some profit-taking in the latter part of the day erased a portion of the early gains.

However, the market subsequently regained stability, with buying interest returning during the afternoon session. The index gradually recouped losses and remained firmly in positive territory heading into the close.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 175,285.78, up by 1,766.97 points or 1.02%.

“The index remained firmly in positive territory throughout the session, reaching an intra-day high of 176,701 points and a low of 173,870 points, reflecting renewed buying interest across key sectors,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.

On the index contribution front, heavyweight stocks UBL, ENGROH, NBP, MEBL, and HBL emerged as the top performers, collectively contributing approximately 906 points to the benchmark index’s overall gain, Topline said.

On Tuesday, the PSX witnessed one of its worst trading sessions as escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East sparked panic selling, amid growing concerns over the conflict between the United States and Iran and its potential impact on global oil supplies. The KSE-100 Index plunged 6,408.23 points, or 3.56%, to close at 173,518.82 points.

Internationally, Asian markets were higher on Wednesday after a surprise slowdown in U.S. inflation scaled back market expectations for interest rate hikes, while oil took a breather as the US ​scrapped a plan to levy shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Stellar earnings at Wall ‌Street banks also had investors cheering, though a 25% drop in IBM’s share price, after the technology company’s revenue forecast missed analyst expectations, showed how stretched and skittish the market’s rally in AI-related stocks has become.

South Korea’s ​chipmaker-heavy KOSPI surged 6% in early trade and Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.4%. MSCI’s broadest index ​of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.7%.

In currencies, the US dollar dropped ⁠except against the stubbornly weak yen. Meanwhile, short-end bonds rallied, taking two-year Treasury yields down 11 ​basis points to 4.19% from Tuesday’s 17-month high of nearly 4.3%.

The US headline consumer price index fell ​0.4% in June, its first decline since the COVID-19 pandemic, while annualised core inflation of 2.6% compared with expectations for 2.8%.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee posted marginal gain against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Wednesday. At close, the local currency settled at 278.00, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback.

Volume on the all-share index decreased to 583.80 million from 912.61 million recorded in the previous close.

The value of shares declined to Rs26.04 billion from Rs45.61 billion in the previous session.

K-Electric Ltd was the volume leader with 52.69 million shares, followed by Cnergyico PK with 37.97 million shares, and TPL Properties with 27.82 million shares.

Shares of 495 companies were traded on Wednesday, of which 361 registered an increase, 104 recorded a fall, and 30 remained unchanged.