PSX extends gains as KSE-100 surges past 168k mark in early trade

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued its bullish momentum on Tuesday morning, with the benchmark KSE-100 index climbing sharply during the opening hours of trading. The market opened on a strong note, adding 1,007.58 points to reach 167,250.48 around 9:34am, with a trading volume of more than 44 million shares.

By 10:34am, buying activity further accelerated as the index extended its rally by 2,171.23 points to hit 168,414.13, while the traded volume soared to 334.3 million shares. At 10:54am, the KSE-100 stood at 168,068.88, showing a gain of 1,825.98 points or 1.10 percent, reflecting improved investor sentiment and strong institutional participation.

Market performance and key indicators

During the intraday session, the PSX recorded a day high of 168,414.13 and a day low of 166,923.59. The total traded volume by 10:54am reached nearly 395.6 million shares. In year-to-date (YTD) terms, the index has risen by 45.99 percent, while on a one-year basis, it has shown a remarkable increase of 95.30 percent.

The day’s trading range remained between 166,923.59 and 168,414.13, while the 52-week range stood between 85,349.33 and 169,988.62, showing how strongly the market has rebounded over the past year.

Top gainers and losers

Among the top advancers of the day were FPJM, which gained 13.70 percent to trade at Rs8.30, followed by TCORPCPS up 10.50 percent to Rs8.84, and BFMOD climbing 10.03 percent to Rs22.17. Other strong performers included KOIL, KOHP, BECO, SERT, MQTM, KOHTM and TSMF, each rising around 10 percent.

On the losing side, GEMBLUEX led the decliners with a drop of 10 percent to Rs65.93, while NSRM slipped 9.72 percent to Rs90.51. Other notable losers were CCM, GEMMEL, EMCO, IDSM, NCML, DMC, KEL and THCCL, which all faced pressure, declining between 5 and 9 percent.

Active movers and major index contributors

Most index heavyweights traded in positive territory. Banking and energy shares were among the strongest performers. Bank Al Habib gained 6.05 percent to Rs218.95, while PSX’s own share price rose 4.93 percent to Rs43.00. The Bank of Punjab advanced 4.54 percent to Rs41.20, and MCB Bank climbed 3.60 percent to Rs384.00. Other notable gainers included Faysal Bank, FFL, OGDC, NBP and FFC, all trading between 2 and 3 percent higher.

On the other hand, K-Electric came under pressure, dropping 5.87 percent to Rs6.58 with the highest trading volume of over 233 million shares. Other red-zone stocks included BNWM, PKGP, PIBTL, DGKC and UBL, which saw mild corrections between 0.3 and 1.6 percent.

Previous session recap

The latest rally follows Monday’s strong performance when the KSE-100 Index gained 2,436.69 points, or 1.49 percent, to close at 166,242.90. The index stayed positive throughout the session, recording an intraday high of 166,421.33 and a low of 164,281.95. Market sentiment improved after reports of an immediate ceasefire agreement between Pakistan and Afghanistan in Doha, which eased geopolitical concerns.

On Monday, total trading volume stood at 704.4 million shares, with 70 companies closing higher and 30 ending lower. Top performers of the previous session included PSEL, NATF, AKBL, BOP and PIBTL, each rising sharply. Meanwhile, KEL, MEHT, POL, AGP and LOTCHEM were among the top laggards. Key index support came from HBL, UBL, BOP, NBP and AKBL, which together added more than 980 points to the index.