PSX gains over 2,000 points as bulls maintain firm grip

Stocks at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) extended their rally on Wednesday, with the benchmark index gaining more than 1,900 points on the back of falling oil prices and improving investor sentiment.

The KSE-100 index has reached 158,189.66 points after gaining 2,012.54 points or 1.29%, up from the previous session’s close of 156,177.12 — when the market registered its second-highest single-day increase.

The rally follows the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) decision to keep the policy rate unchanged at 10.5%, which reassured investors and revived risk appetite.

Sentiment was further lifted by improving global markets, while declining oil prices — after comments from President Donald Trump suggesting the Middle East conflict may ease soon — helped calm fears of prolonged energy supply disruptions.

Ahfaz Mustafa, CEO of Ismail Iqbal Securities, told Geo.tv: “Easing of oil prices, pro-active measures by the government and attractive valuations are getting investor attention.”

“The market, due to uncertainty and war, had corrected north of 20%, making shares cheap and dividend yields attractive.”

Similarly, Arif Habib’s Ahsan Mehnti said that the stocks staged further recovery in the early session at PSX on institutional interest in oversold scrips amid lower global crude oil prices and upbeat data on $3.3 billion remittances rising by 5.2% year-on-year.

“Government assurance to renegotiate IMF deal lowering taxes, and securing crude supplies in regional crises played a catalyst role in bullish activity at PSX,” he added.

China and Hong Kong stocks edged up on Wednesday, despite regional volatility, as investors rotated into defensive plays while upped bets on new energy sectors.

The Iran conflict appears to be de-escalating and risk assets have continued to rally across the board. Chinese stock indices are riding this wave," analysts at Huatai Futures wrote in a note.

Meanwhile, shares steadied following a brief retreat in oil prices, but markets remained anxious as contradictory signals from the US-Israeli war on Iran left investors struggling to gauge its impact on global inflation and growth.

A short-lived pullback in oil came after the Wall Street Journal reported that the International Energy Agency has proposed the largest release of oil reserves in its history to bring down crude prices, providing some relief to battered global stocks while currencies and bonds were little changed.

Brent crude futures LCOc1 swung between gains and losses to trade 0.2% higher at $87.89 per barrel, while US crude CLc1 was little changed at $83.47 a barrel, having initially fallen on the news.

The conflict in the Middle East kept investors nervous, as the United States and Israel pounded Iran in what some called the most intense airstrikes of the war, dashing some earlier hopes of an imminent end to hostilities.