PSX rebounds strongly as KSE-100 gains nearly 1,000 points

KARACHI – The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a strong recovery on Thursday as investor confidence returned, pushing the benchmark KSE-100 Index up by nearly 1,000 points during early trading. By 9:35am, the KSE-100 Index had climbed to 168,449.14 points, showing a gain of 998.01 points, or 0.60%, compared to the previous session’s close. Positive momentum was seen across several major sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration firms, oil marketing companies, power generation and refineries. Major index-heavy stocks such as Attock Refinery Limited, Hub Power Company, Mari Energies, Oil and Gas Development Company, Pakistan Petroleum Limited, Habib Bank Limited, MCB Bank, Meezan Bank and United Bank Limited traded in positive territory. The rebound followed a bearish session on Wednesday, when the market came under pressure amid investor concerns over the lack of progress in diplomatic discussions and uncertainty surrounding developments between the United States and Iran. Rising international oil prices also weighed on investor sentiment and triggered selling in several heavyweight stocks. At the close of trading on Wednesday, the KSE-100 Index had dropped by 1,465.09 points, or 0.87%, to settle at 167,451.14 points. Meanwhile, global markets also showed positive momentum on Thursday, driven largely by optimism surrounding artificial intelligence-related investments. South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix surged closer to a trillion-dollar valuation amid strong demand linked to AI technologies. Investor attention also remained focused on high-level talks between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. The meeting is expected to cover trade relations as well as regional issues, including tensions involving Iran and arms sales to Taiwan. China’s blue-chip stocks slipped 1% after reaching their highest level since late 2021 earlier in the session, while the Chinese yuan touched a thr