PSX starts day on a strong note as KSE-100 rises over 1,000 points

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a volatile start to trading today (Thursday, October 30), as the benchmark KSE-100 index saw strong early gains before losing momentum and later recovering.

Investors appeared active in early deals, but cautious sentiment quickly set in, leading to sharp intraday swings. The stock market opened on a positive note, continuing efforts to rebound from the previous session’s losses. Around 9:34 AM, the benchmark index surged by over a thousand points, gaining 1,042.36 points to reach 159,507.41, with a trading volume of 7.12 million shares.

However, the bullish momentum proved short-lived as selling pressure emerged, dragging the index down by 259.4 points to 158,205.65 by 9:57 AM, when the volume had risen sharply to 32.27 million shares.

Despite the brief dip into negative territory, the market regained strength as buying interest returned mid-session. By 11:09 AM, the KSE-100 index was back in the green, standing at 159,203.53 points—up 738.48 points or 0.47 percent—with volumes reaching 117.54 million shares.

This recovery reflected renewed investor confidence as participants sought to capitalise on dips in selected sectors.

KSE-100 posts strong yearly and YTD growth

At this level, the benchmark index showed remarkable long-term progress, posting a 76.33 percent gain in year-on-year terms and a 38.29 percent increase on a year-to-date basis. Over the past 52 weeks, the KSE-100 index has traded between 88,852.68 and 169,988.62 points, highlighting the market’s dramatic recovery from earlier lows.

Gainers

In terms of active stocks, PAEL led the turnover chart, trading at Rs49.80 after rising 3.88 percent, followed by HASCOL, which advanced 4.31 percent to Rs16.21. DSL and CNERGY also performed well, gaining 3.64 percent each, while K-Electric added 2.76 percent to reach Rs5.59. On the other hand, Bank of Punjab slipped 0.92 percent to Rs36.74, reflecting mild profit-taking.

Among top gainers, SSML and HAEL surged by 10 percent each, while SARC, CWSM, SSOM, TSBL, ZIL, FLYNG, BNL, and SGPL also rose sharply, each posting around a 10 percent gain. This strong performance from multiple sectors suggested broad-based buying interest in the early session.

Decliners

Meanwhile, the top decliners included FECM, KOIL, and SERT, each falling by 10 percent. Other notable losers were LSEFSL and IDSM, which dropped nearly 9.9 percent, while POWERPS and AHTM also recorded steep declines, shedding between 8 and 9 percent.

Previous KSE-100 index closing

The volatile session followed a weak close on Wednesday, when the KSE-100 index dropped 1,635.97 points, or 1.02 percent, to end at 158,465.05. During that session, the index fluctuated within a wide range of 2,383 points, hitting an intraday high of 160,690.12 and a low of 158,306.84.