Stocks notch second-highest gain

Index soars over 7,000 points on easing border tensions, FinMin-IMF meeting

KARACHI:

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), in a historic rally on Tuesday, jumped over 7,000 points – the second-biggest single-day gain – driven by aggressive investor buying and a sharp reversal in sentiment.

The dramatic surge followed a day of heavy selling, underscoring a quick shift in investor interest on the back of easing geopolitical tensions, a calmer political environment and Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb's meeting with International Monetary Fund (IMF) Director for Middle East and Central Asia Department Jihad Azour on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank meetings in Washington.

The meeting reaffirmed the commitment to continuing Pakistan's reform agenda and ensuring macroeconomic stability, which reflected continued external backing and consistent policy direction.

Notably, according to analysts, three of the highest single-day gains in the KSE-100 index have occurred in the past six months. On Tuesday, the rebound was broad-based, with strong interest in sectors like oil & gas exploration, oil marketing, power generation & distribution, refineries, commercial banks, cement and automobile assemblers.

As the index closed near the intra-day high of 165,867, the short-term outlook remains bullish, though sustainability will depend on political and economic developments.

In corporate news, Mari Energies highlighted its FY25 results and the outlook. It reported net sales of Rs177 billion, down 3% year-on-year, primarily due to lower production, resulting from curtailments on Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited's (SNGPL) transmission network, coupled with lower wellhead prices, according to AKD Securities.

KTrade Securities, in its market wrap, wrote that stocks staged a strong rebound after the recent downtrend, with the benchmark KSE-100 index surging 7,033 points (+4.44%) to 165,476, marking the second-highest single-day gain in history.

The rally was broad-based, where all major sectors contributed to the surge. Key stocks propelling the index higher included Lucky Cement, UBL, Systems Limited, Engro Corporation, Hub Power, Mari Energies and Meezan Bank.

Investor sentiment received a significant boost following Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's presence in Egypt at the signing of a Gaza peace agreement, where he also held a meeting with US President Donald Trump and other global leaders, it said.

Additionally, positive developments on the domestic front including the end to protests by Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan and a partial ceasefire on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border contributed to the market confidence. However, caution prevails as the outcome of IMF review is pending, KTrade said.

Arif Habib Limited (AHL) observed that the PSX made a super-strong comeback as the KSE-100 index smashed through 163k to set up higher levels for the remainder of the week. On the index, 96 shares rose while three fell with Lucky Cement (+8.29%), UBL (+4.63%) and Systems Limited (+10%) contributing the most to the day's gains. On the flip side, Unity Foods (-0.23%), Pakgen Power (-0.11%) and Unilever Pakistan Foods (-0.02%) were the biggest drags.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Petroleum (+4.55%) transferred the operatorship of the eastern offshore Indus C block to Turkish Petroleum Overseas, a unit of Turkiye Petrolleri. AHL sees 163k as near-term support to pave the way for further upward movement in the future.

Topline Securities stated that after Monday's "bloodbath", bulls staged a powerful comeback, propelling the benchmark KSE-100 index to its second-highest single-day gain ever, which surged 7,033 points to close at 165,476. Remarkably, it pointed out, all three of the market's top single-day advances occurred in the last six months – a clear reflection of sustained investor optimism and improving market confidence.

The sharp rebound was driven by a swift normalisation of the law and order situation after nationwide protests were called off. Further momentum was added by the US president's positive remarks on Pakistan, reinforcing expectations of better geopolitical ties and renewed foreign interest, Topline added.

Overall trading volumes decreased to 1.18 billion shares versus Monday's tally of 1.37 billion. Traded value came in at Rs59.2 billion. PSX announced on X that 60% of the total traded equity value was in Shariah-compliant stocks.

During the day, shares of 483 companies were traded. Of these, 391 closed higher, 69 dropped and 23 remained unchanged.

The Bank of Punjab was the volume leader with trading in 100.7 million shares, rising Rs2.85 to close at Rs34.63. It was followed by PTCL with 79.8 million shares, gaining Rs0.41 to close at Rs37.05 and Pace Pakistan with 74.8 million shares, losing Rs0.58 to close at Rs18.60. Foreign investors sold shares worth Rs1 billion, the National Clearing Company reported.