The buying rally continued on Thursday at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as investors responded positively to robust earnings reports, liquidity injections from institutions, and improved external sentiment. The benchmark KSE-100 Index gained nearly 500 points during the opening hours of trading.
At 10am, the benchmark index was hovering at 151,071.60, an increase of 480.60 points or 0.32%.
Buying interest was seen in key sectors including automobile assemblers, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and refinery. Index-heavy stocks, including ARL, MARI, OGDC, PPL, POL, PSO, SNGPL and UBL, traded in the green.
On Wednesday, the PSX advanced further into record territory, as the benchmark KSE-100 Index closed at an all-time high of 150,591.00 points, gaining 820 points or 0.55%.
Globally, Asian stock markets were broadly mixed on Thursday.
Japan’s Nikkei dropped 0.6% in the morning session, retreating further from the record peak reached on Tuesday.
Despite a tech-led selloff on Wall Street overnight, Japanese chip stocks were a mixed bag, with Advantest up 3% while Tokyo Electron dropped 2%.
South Korea’s KOSPI bounced 0.9% after dipping to a six-week low on Wednesday. Australia’s benchmark gained 0.6% and renewed an all-time high.
Mainland Chinese blue chips gained 0.5%, although Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was largely flat.
US stock futures pointed lower, with Nasdaq futures sagging 0.2% and S&P 500 futures easing 0.1%.
Overnight, the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.7% and the S&P 500 cash index slipped 0.2%.
Traders currently lay odds of about 80% for a quarter-point Fed rate cut on September 17, and price in a total of 52 basis points of easing over the rest of the year.
This is an intra-day update
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