Buying continues, KSE-100 gains nearly 400 points

Buying spree continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining nearly 400 points on Thursday.

The KSE-100 witnessed buying for most part of the day, hitting an intra-day high of 114,202.14, a gain of around 860 points as compared to the previous day.

However, some selling in the second half trimmed the intra-day gains.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 113,739.16, up by 396.72 points or 0.35%.

“The KSE-100 Index showed a positive trend, bolstered by strong results,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.

This uptick was mainly driven by CHCC, FCCL, PIOC, DGKC, and MCB, which together accounted for 353 points of the total gain, it added.

On Wednesday, bullish momentum continued at the PSX, with the KSE-100 closing the day at 113,342.44, up by 253.96 points or 0.22%.

On the global front, Asian shares fell sharply on Thursday, tracking choppy trading on Wall Street and a dip in European stocks as US President Donald Trump’s tariff plans and a cautious stance from Federal Reserve policymakers hurt risk sentiment.

The risk-off mood lifted gold prices to a record high, while safe-haven currencies led by the Japanese yen also firmed on geopolitical worries.

Trump said on Tuesday that sector-wide tariffs on pharmaceuticals and semiconductor chips would start at “25% or higher,” rising substantially over a year.

He intends to impose similar tariffs on autos as soon as April 2.

That along with other threats has exacerbated fears of a wide-ranging trade war, leaving investors jittery, although some analysts see the moves by Trump as a negotiation tool.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1% in early trading. Japan’s Nikkei slid 1.4% on the strong yen.

Chinese stocks had a muted start to the session, with the blue-chip index down 0.4%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slid 1.7%, having touched a four-month high earlier this week boosted by a blistering rally in tech stocks.

On Thursday, Hang Seng’s tech stocks index fell more than 3%, on course for its worst one-day drop in three months. Still, the index is up nearly 6% so far in February.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee remained largely stable against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Thursday. At close, the rupee settled at 279.46, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback.

Volume on the all-share index increased to 787.44 million from 667.72 million recorded in the previous close.

The value of shares rose to Rs33.10 billion from Rs25.73 billion in the previous session.

Pak Int.Bulk was the volume leader with 91.48 million shares, followed by Fauji Cement with 73.71 million shares, and K-Electric Ltd with 58.97 million shares.

Shares of 453 companies were traded on Thursday, of which 223 registered an increase, 176 recorded a fall, while 54 remained unchanged.