Positivity returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) after three consecutive days of selling pressure. The benchmark KSE-100 Index gained over 900 points during the opening hours of trading on Thursday.
At 10:50am, the benchmark index was hovering at 112,394.20, an increase of 906.84 points or 0.81%.
Buying interest was observed in index-heavy sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, chemical, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refinery.
Key stocks including HUBCO, NRL, PSO, SHEL, SNGP, OGDC, PPL, POL, MARI, MCB and MEBL traded in the green.
“Major banks will commence announcing their annual results today with Bank Alfalah,” said Intermarket Securities in a note.
“The next key milestone is the International Monetary Fund (IMF) review due in the end of February, which should reinforce the market view on continued macro stability,” it added.
On Wednesday, selling pressure continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index falling for a third consecutive session, closing the day lower by 543 points at 111,487.36, amid a lack of positive triggers.
Internationally, Asian share markets were mixed in thin trading on Thursday as much of the region was on holiday for the Lunar New Year. At the same time, the US dollar trod water after the Federal Reserve signalled a pause in policy easing.
The US central bank held interest rates steady overnight as widely expected, with Fed Chair Jerome Powell saying there would be no rush to cut them again.
President Donald Trump’s policies remain a risk for the Fed’s policy outlook, and Saturday is likely to see new tariffs slapped on Canada, Mexico and possibly China as well.
On Wall Street, after-the-bell earnings reports from members of the Magnificent Seven megacap tech stocks were a mixed bag. Microsoft beat quarterly revenue estimates, while Tesla’s fourth-quarter profit margin missed expectations. Meta forecast first-quarter revenue below market estimates.
Another of the Mag 7, Apple reports results later Thursday.
The results did little to further the debate on Chinese startup DeepSeek’s potential threat to US dominance in artificial intelligence, and the big spending behind it – questions that triggered a rout in global tech stocks on Monday.
US stock indexes ended slightly lower on Wednesday, and tech was the biggest drag on the S&P 500 as the benchmark slipped 0.5%.
This is an intra-day update
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