KSE-100 Index closes 881 points higher amid buying momentum

Buying returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), as the benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 881 points during trading on Thursday.

The KSE-100 witnessed some selling in the initial hours, pushing the index to an intra-day low of 115,818.07.

However, the latter hours saw strong buying that led to an intra-day high of 116,901.13.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 116,901.13, a gain of 881.03 points or 0.76%.

“Investor sentiment was buoyed by record-high remittances, which contributed to a historic current account surplus in March 2025. The surplus for the first nine months of FY25 reached $1.9 billion,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.

“Additionally, the rally in cement stocks was fuelled by a Rs25 per bag increase in cement prices, further supporting the market’s upward momentum,” it added.

Index performance was largely driven by heavyweight stocks including UBL, PSO, NBP, MARI, and MLCF, which collectively contributed 515 points, underscoring their pivotal role in sustaining market momentumm, Topline said.

On Wednesday, the PSX faced a negative session, with the benchmark index declining by 755.40 points or 0.65%.

In a key development, Kuwait extended its oil credit facility to Pakistan for another two years. Kuwait’s Ambassador to Pakistan confirmed the news during a meeting with Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik in Islamabad on Wednesday, a statement from the Petroleum Division said on Wednesday.

United Bank Limited (UBL), one of Pakistan’s largest commercial banks, posted consolidated Rs36.11 billion profit-after-tax (PAT) during the quarter ending March 31, 2025, up massive 124% from the PAT of Rs16.14 billion in the same period of 2024.

The bank announced the results in a notice to the PSX on Wednesday.

Earnings per share (EPS) of UBL clocked in at Rs29.34 in Q1 of 2025, an increase from Rs13.05 in Q1 of 2024.

Asian stocks wavered on Thursday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned of the risk of slowing growth and rising prices due to tariffs, while the uncertainty around U.S. trade policies kept the dollar rooted near three-year lows.

The spotlight stayed on technology shares after a bruising session on Wednesday in the wake of warnings from bellwethers Nvidia and ASML , and ahead of earnings from Taiwan’s TSMC .

Safe haven gold prices remained on the charge, notching up yet another record high in early trading on Thursday, while Powell’s comments that U.S. economic growth appeared to be slowing pushed Treasury yields lower.

In early Asia, stock markets were tentative across the region, after U.S. stocks closed sharply lower. South Korea’s benchmark index inched 0.4% higher, while Taiwan stocks fell 0.5%.

Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.7% while the yen weakened as Japan kicked off talks with the U.S. and President Donald Trump, in a surprise move to negotiate directly with the Japanese delegation, said there was “big progress”.

Elsewhere, Powell said the Fed would wait for more data on the economy’s direction before making any changes to interest rates.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee saw marginal decline against the US dollar, depreciating 0.06% in the inter-bank market on Thursday. At close, the currency settled at 280.62, a loss of Re0.16 against the US dollar.

Volume on the all-share index decreased to 408.07 million from 481.81 million recorded in the previous close.

The value of shares declined to Rs32.13 billion from Rs38.54 billion in the previous session.

Maple Leaf was the volume leader with 23.79 million shares, followed by B.O.Punjab with 23.32 million shares, and Cnergyico PK with 17.94 million shares.

Shares of 445 companies were traded on Thursday, of which 212 registered an increase, 172 recorded a fall, while 61 remained unchanged.