Pakistan stocks rally as KSE-100 gains 8,000 points in two sessions

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) extended its rally on Thursday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining 4,361 points during the session to trade at 176,375 points, as investor confidence improved following the US midterm election results.

The latest advance took the index’s gains over the past two sessions to 8,000 points.

The buying interest came after Democrats seized control of both chambers of the US Congress in Tuesday’s midterm elections, dealing a sweeping defeat to President Donald Trump and his Republican Party.

The election results were widely seen as a referendum on Trump’s second presidency, with voters expressing anger over the cost of living, the war with Iran and his stewardship of the country. Democratic victories across battlegrounds and traditionally Republican areas will give the party the ability to investigate the administration and potentially block parts of Trump’s legislative agenda and presidential nominations.

At the PSX, trading volumes at the start of Thursday’s session were led by Bank of Punjab, K-Electric, Synergy, Maple Leaf, Pak Elektron and Fauji Cement.

Shares of Pak Engineering, Ghandhara Industries, Premium Textile, Sazgar, Abbott Laboratories, Pakistan Tobacco, Meezan Bank and Ghandhara Automobiles recorded the biggest gains during the initial session.

Meanwhile, shares of Nestle, Sapphire Textile, Tandlianwala Sugar, Shah Taj Sugar, Fateh Sports and Rafhan saw the sharpest declines.

In the interbank market, the US dollar fell by two paisa to trade at Rs276.68, according to the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan.