PSX: positive momentum continues, KSE-100 gains nearly 1,600 points
- Benchmark index was hovering at 167,316.40
The Pakistan Stock Exchange continued its upward trend, gaining nearly 400 points, driven by broad-based buying across key sectors, contrasting with mixed international market performance.
- Key sectors fueling PSX's continued buying momentum.
- Mixed impact of AI-related earnings on Asian stock markets.
- Federal Reserve's decision to hold interest rates steady.
Buying momentum continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining nearly 1,600 points during the opening hours on Thursday.
At 11:10am, the benchmark index was hovering at 167,316.40, up by 1,579.65 points or 0.95%.
Buying was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and power generation. Index-heavy stocks, including HUBCO, KE, MARI, POL, PPL, PSO, SNGPL, HBL, MCB, MEBL and UBL, traded in the green.
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%.
This is an intraday update