Emphatic comeback: KSE-100 settles above 99k after nearly 4,700-point gain as PTI protest ends

A day after witnessing the biggest single-day decline of over 3,500 points, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) rebounded in emphatic fashion with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining nearly 4,700 points, the largest ever single-day points increase on record, on Wednesday to settle above the 99,000 level for the first time.

Bulls made a roaring comeback from the get-go as investors rejoiced over a decline in political turmoil as Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ended its three-day protest in Islamabad following a law enforcement crackdown.

During trading, the KSE-100 hit an intra-day high of 99,549.81.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 99,269.25, an increase of 4,695.09 points or 4.96%.

Massive buying was witnessed at the bourse with the index-heavy banking sector leading the rally alongside other sectors including automobile assemblers, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and power generation.

Index-heavy stocks including HBL, NBP, MCB, OGDC, SSGC and HUBCO traded in the green territory. The final few minutes also saw buying interest, showing that the buying trend was here to stay.

The positive sentiment was a complete turnaround from Tuesday’s bloodbath, as the benchmark KSE-100 Index witnessed the biggest single-day decline, plunging by over 3,500 points to settle at 94,574, with investors viewing Islamabad’s situation as worsening after the Pakistan Army was called in to stop the protest from becoming more violent.

However, optimism returned following decisive overnight actions by law enforcement.

The police and Rangers on Tuesday cleared Blue Area as well as D-Chowk after launching a late night crackdown on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protesters headed by Bushra Bibi, the wife of Imran Khan, and Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Gandapur.

“Pakistan stocks recovered at opening after the opposition protest got over last night,” said Mohammed Sohail, CEO of Topline Securities, in a note.

Adding to the positive momentum, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Tuesday removed the Minimum Profit Rate (MPR) requirement for all conventional banks on deposits from financial institutions, public sector enterprises, and public limited companies.

The central bank also directed Islamic Banking Institutions (IBIs) to pay at least 75% of the weighted average gross yield from their investment pools as profit on PKR savings deposits.

Internationally, Asian stocks were heavy on Wednesday as investors fretted over what countries could be targeted for tariffs under incoming US President Donald Trump, a day after he pledged new levies on Canada, Mexico and China.

Japan’s Nikkei was a stand-out underperformer again on Wednesday, declining 0.9%.

The autos sector was the worst-performing industry group on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, dropping more than 3% as both the threat of tariffs and the drag of a stronger yen weighed on the profit outlook.

Mainland Chinese blue chips sank 0.4%, although Hong Kong’s Hang Seng managed a 0.1% rise.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares drooped 0.1%.