Bulls roared back at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) amid hopes of a de-escalation in the Iran-US war, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining nearly 7,500 points during the trading session on Wednesday.
At 12:05pm, the benchmark index was hovering at 156,204.89, up by 7,461.58 points or 5.02%.
The rally is being fueled by a surge of optimism across the floor, said Behtari Capital. “Reports of easing regional tensions have sparked a massive ‘risk-on’ sentiment globally,” it added.
Following the increase, a Market Halt was triggered, and all equity-based markets were suspended.
“Due to a 5% Increase in the KSE-30 index from the previous trading day’s close of the same, a Market Halt has been triggered as per PSX regulations, and all equity-based markets have been suspended accordingly,” read a PSX notice.
The market will resume trading at 1:08pm.
Buying momentum was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refinery. Index-heavy stocks, including HBL, MCB, MEBL, UBL, MARI, OGDC, PPL, POL, PSO, HUBCO and ARL, traded in the green.
On Tuesday, PSX witnessed a strong recovery as fresh institutional and retail buying helped the benchmark indices rebound sharply after consecutive sessions of losses, with investor sentiment improving on the back of positive macroeconomic signals and supportive corporate developments.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index closed at 148,743.32 points, registering a gain of 1,900.34 points or 1.29%.
Pakistan’s equity market witnessed a sharp correction in the first quarter of 2026 after three consecutive years of strong gains, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index declining around 15% during the period amid persistent selling pressure and geopolitical uncertainty.
Internationally, stocks and bonds rallied, and the dollar wallowed at the start of the Asian trading session on Wednesday on hopes of a de-escalation in the Iran conflict, while significantly better-than-expected economic data for March propelled a rebound in Korean and Japanese shares.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 2.7%, snapping a four-day losing streak as South Korea’s Kospi surged as much as 5.5%.
The Nikkei 225 also jumped 3.9% at one point, after US President Donald Trump said the United States could end its military attacks on Iran within two to three weeks and that Tehran did not have to make a deal as a prerequisite for the conflict winding down.
Trump will provide an update on Iran in an address to the nation at 9 p.m. on Wednesday (0100 GMT on Thursday), White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on X. S&P 500 e-mini futures were up 0.3%, and Nasdaq futures gained 0.5% after the post.
Stocks on Wall Street soared on Tuesday as traders bet on the potential off-ramp to the war, sending the S&P 500 2.9% higher, though oil markets were more subdued as trading resumed in Asia. Brent crude futures moved 1.1% higher to $105.16 a barrel to retrace some of the previous day’s decline.
This is an intra-day update
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