Pakistan's stock market on Thursday staged a strong rebound as the KSE-100 index surged over 2,000 points after the United States unexpectedly announced a 90-day pause to several new tariffs.
The tariff suspension, seen as a major concession that could ease trade tensions, ignited a wave of buying activity, especially in sectors such as bank, energy and cement.
In his morning note, Topline Securities CEO Mohammed Sohail wrote that following the trend in international markets, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) opened up 3,000 points, reflecting investor optimism influenced by improved global sentiment and easing trade worries.
Market watchers attributed the rally to the immediate relief for emerging markets, including Pakistan, which had been under pressure from a strong dollar and escalating global uncertainties.
Arif Habib Corp MD Ahsan Mehanti wrote that stocks staged a sharp recovery, led by across-the-board investor interest, after the US tariff relief in a policy U-turn.
"Bull-run in global equities, a surge in international crude oil prices and hopes of success in Pakistan-US tariff talks were the key forces behind bullish close at the PSX," he noted.
At the end of trading, the KSE-100 index secured an impressive gain of 2,036.05 points, or 1.78%, and closed at 116,189.21.
Topline Securities attributed the upward trajectory to a strong rebound in the US and other international equity markets, with the KSE-100 index rallying as much as 3,331 points during intra-day trading.
Gains were predominantly driven by standout performances from key index movers including energy, cement and bank stocks, which collectively contributed 633 points to the index, it said.
Arif Habib Limited (AHL) commented that stocks opened with a significant gap, touching the day's high before retracting throughout the session.
A total of 82 shares advanced on KSE-100, while 14 declined. Hub Power (+3.66%), Oil and Gas Development Company (+2.99%) and Lucky Cement (+2.62%) were the leading contributors to the index gains. Conversely, Bank AL Habib (-1.64%), MCB Bank (-1.09%) and Meezan Bank (-1.08%) were the biggest drags, it said.
AHL was of the view that despite positive announcement about deferring the US tariffs, the market's response was somewhat muted, with the KSE-100 index rising only 1.78% day-on-day.
Looking ahead, the Monday gap in the range of 117.6k-118.6k remains a critical support and resistance level as the market approaches Friday's session, it added.
Overall trading volumes increased to 638.1 million shares compared with Wednesday's tally of 448.7 million. The value of shares traded was Rs36.9 billion. Shares of 451 companies were traded. Of these, 347 stocks closed higher, 63 fell and 41 remained unchanged.
Cnergyico PK was the volume leader with trading in 86.6 million shares, rising Rs0.2 to close at Rs8.52. It was followed by K-Electric with 57.9 million shares, gaining Rs0.33 to close at Rs4.54 and Sui Southern Gas Company with 44.7 million shares, gaining Rs3.56 to close at Rs39.13. Foreign investors sold shares worth Rs735 million, the National Clearing Company reported.
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