Strong buying at PSX, KSE-100 up over 1,100 points in early trade

Bullish momentum was observed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 gaining over 1,100 points during the opening minutes of trading on Thursday.

At 9:50am, the benchmark index was hovering at 171,455.35, an increase of 1,141.50 points or 0.67%.

Buying was observed in key sectors, including cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refinery. Index-heavy stocks, including ARL, HUBCO, PSO, SNGPL, SSGC, MARI, MEB, MEBL and NBP, traded in the green.

On a fiscal front, Pakistan’s current account posted a surplus of $100 million in November 2025, data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s cargo transporters – including those operating between Karachi seaports and factories nationwide – called off the wheel jam strike on Wednesday, stating that the government had agreed to address their demands, including increasing the time for “20-feet long 10-wheel cargo vehicles” to 19 hours a day on roads.

On Wednesday, PSX witnessed a session of intense volatility as the downward movement was primarily driven by a backdrop of mixed investor sentiment and pronounced volatility, which triggered selective profit-taking after the index hit a historic intraday peak.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index ended the day at 170,313.86 points, marking a marginal retreat of 133.44 points or 0.08%.

Internationally, Asian shares fell on Thursday as the tech sector took a beating on renewed angst about AI spending, while investors braced for a wave of central bank meetings set to underscore policy divergence worldwide.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.5% as South Korea dropped 1.3% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slipped 0.5%. Japan’s Nikkei was down 1.2%.

Nasdaq futures gained 0.3% and S&P 500 futures rose 0.2%, after a tech-led selloff on Wall Street as investors grappled with renewed concerns over record AI spending. Shares of AI bellwether Nvidia tumbled 3.8%.

This is an intra-day update