KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) staged a recovery on Wednesday, with the market gaining as buying resumed after two consecutive sessions of profit-taking. The market received a boost towards the close from reports of an extension of the US-Iran ceasefire.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index closed at 180,311.22 points against 179,846.68 points in the previous session. During the day, the index touched an intraday high of 180,901.27 points and a low of 179,920.10 points.
Business Recorder’s market indices also closed mostly higher. The BRIndex100 gained 23.64 points, or 0.12%, to 19,872.36 points, with turnover of 593.37 million shares. The BRIndex30 rose 204.14 points, or 0.28%, to 72,396.44 points, with 287.85 million shares traded.
Topline Securities, in its daily market review, said the bulls returned after two sessions of profit-taking, with investors resuming buying following recent gain-locking. It said sentiment received an additional boost towards the close after reports emerged that the United States and Iran had agreed to extend their ceasefire ahead of the expiry of the 60-day deadline under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, according to Anadolu Agency, citing a Pakistani source.
POL, MARI, HBL, HUBC and BAHL were the major positive contributors to the KSE-100, collectively adding approximately 410 points to the index.
Trading activity weakened on the Ready Market, where turnover fell to 744.24 million shares from 860.26 million shares in the previous session. Traded value also declined to Rs32.19 billion from Rs38.86 billion.
Ready Market capitalisation, however, increased by Rs35.51 billion to Rs20.18 trillion from Rs20.14 trillion.
Market breadth turned positive on the Ready Market, with 249 of 491 active companies closing higher, while 211 declined and 31 remained unchanged.
Cnergyico PK led Ready Market turnover with 67.75 million shares. The stock closed at Rs13.11, up from Rs12.84, of the previous day close. D.S. Ind. Ltd. followed with 67.53 million shares, closing at Rs15.07 against Rs16.74 previously. Hascol Petrol traded 47.27 million shares and closed at Rs21.61 compared with Rs21.47. WorldCall Telecom recorded 31.08 million shares and closed at Rs1.20, down from Rs1.23, while Trust Brokerage traded 27.95 million shares and ended at Rs2.46 against Rs2.33.
PIA Holding Company LimitedB was the leading price gainer, rising Rs98.33 to Rs17,450.00 per share. Ghandhara Industries Limited gained Rs43.25 to close at Rs1,282.25.
Blessed Textiles Limited was the biggest decliner, falling Rs45.95 to Rs935.41, followed by Sapphire Textile Mills Limited, which shed Rs45.47 to Rs1,447.72.
Among sectoral indices, the BR Oil and Gas Index increased 134.38 points, or 0.89%, to 15,192.05 points, while the BR Cement Index gained 83.94 points, or 0.66%, to 12,753.42 points.
The BR Automobile Assembler Index rose 124.45 points, or 0.52%, to 24,116.68 points, while the BR Power Generation and Distribution Index increased 128.79 points, or 0.47%, to 27,417.32 points.
The BR Commercial Banks Index gained 54.74 points, or 0.09%, to 64,128.80 points. The BR Tech. & Comm. Index was the only major sectoral index in negative territory, declining 4.50 points, or 0.12%, to 3,704.47 points.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026