After days of intense selling pressure, bulls made a thumping return at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining nearly 4,300 points amid attractive valuations.
The benchmark index opened near the lower end and faced initial selling pressure, dipping to an intra-day low of 162,953.63.
However, the market quickly recovered, entering a sustained upward trajectory throughout the late morning and early afternoon, hitting an intra-day high of 169,374.27, reflecting strong buying interest and bullish momentum.
At close, the KSE-100 Index settled at 168,893.08, an increase of 4,266.79 points or 2.59%.
“Valuations have become quite attractive after the ~25k-point correction,” Saad Hanif, Head of Research at Ismail Iqbal Securities, told media.
“With leverage unwinding and rollover week nearly behind us, a significant portion of positions has already been squared off,” he added.
After several sessions under the firm grip of the bears, the bulls finally reclaimed the spotlight, bringing a welcome shift in sentiment, said Topline Securities.
“The rebound was largely driven by easing futures rollover pressure as February contracts near expiry, allowing participants to rebuild positions with greater clarity and reduced risk,” it said.
Index-heavy constituents, including FFC, ENGROH, HUBC, PPL, and HBL, emerged as key gainers, collectively contributing approximately 1,800 points to the index, added the brokerage house.
Federal Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has said that Pakistan will hold detailed discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the third economic review under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme, while dismissing concerns about the rollover of deposits from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
“The IMF review will cover all performance criteria under the programme. We are in a good position, particularly about tax collection,” the finance minister said, while speaking to the media on Monday, expressing confidence over the government’s fiscal management.
On Wednesday, the PSX witnessed a broad-based decline as persistent selling pressure and futures rollover activity kept investors cautious, dragging key benchmark indices lower amid reduced ready-market activity and volatile intraday movements. The benchmark KSE-100 Index settled at 164,626.29 points, losing 1,632.25 points or 0.98%.
Internationally, Asian stocks advanced on Thursday after upbeat earnings from Nvidia soothed concerns over AI-driven disruption and rising costs, while the yen was in the doldrums, bogged down by a murky rate outlook in Japan.
Lingering worries about escalating geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and Iran, meanwhile, kept oil prices elevated, ahead of a third round of talks between the two countries later on Thursday.
Nvidia on Wednesday forecast first-quarter revenue above market estimates, betting on Big Tech’s unabated spending on its AI processors. The result, which had been closely watched by investors, quelled some fears about the massive spending companies are pouring into all things AI.
That helped propel Japan’s Nikkei to a record high early in the session, while South Korea’s KOSPI was up 2%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.7%.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee registered a marginal gain against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Thursday. At close, the local currency settled at 279.50, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback.
Volume on the all-share index improved to 692.40 million from 619.62 million recorded in the previous close.
The value of shares increased to Rs35.80 billion from Rs29.25 billion in the previous session.
Unity Foods Ltd was the volume leader with 71.44 million shares, followed by B.O.Punjab with 38.66 million shares, and K-Electric Ltd with 35.07 million shares.
Shares of 488 companies were traded on Thursday, of which 291 registered an increase, 145 recorded a fall, and 52 remained unchanged.
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