After experiencing a steep sell-off on Tuesday, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday staged a partial recovery, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index closing with a gain of over 300 points.
The KSE-100 witnessed selling pressure in the first half, reaching in intra-day low of 157,203.55, following a buying spree that pushed index to an intra-da high of 159,516.41.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 158,183.94, an increase of 313.44 points or 0.20%.
Analysts were of the view that the overall market tone appeared cautiously optimistic, with investors likely watching political and security developments closely.
According to data released by the Economic Affairs Division, Pakistan paid a total of SDR 1.90 billion (equivalent to $2.69 billion) in interest under various IMF programmes, which includes surcharges amounting to SDR 401.24 million from 2008 to June 2025.
On Tuesday, PSX witnessed a sharp downturn as renewed selling pressure gripped the market, wiping out the previous session’s strong gains. The benchmark KSE-100 Index fell sharply by 3,667.90 points, or 2.27%, to close at 157,870.50.
The sell-off was due to escalating political noise and a fragile security situation.
At least 12 were killed and 36 others were injured on Tuesday in a suicide blast outside the district and sessions court building in Islamabad’s G-11 area. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
Globally, stocks tiptoed forward at the start of Asian trading on Wednesday as the US Congress looked set to end the federal shutdown and traders looked for direction in the absence of clues from government data services.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.1% in early trading as members of the House of Representatives prepared to vote on a measure that could restore funding to government agencies and end a shutdown that started on October 1 and is now the longest in U.S. history.
Australian stocks led gains, advancing 0.2% as lithium miners drove commodity stocks higher, while Japan’s Topix jumped 0.6%.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee registered marginal gain against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Wednesday. At close, the currency settled at 280.77, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback.
Volume on the all-share index decreased to 757.24 million from 836.42 million recorded in the previous close. The value of shares declined to Rs33.41 billion from Rs38.08 billion in the previous session.
F. Nat.Equities was the volume leader with 89.37 million shares, followed by PIA Holding Company with 56.34 million shares, and WorldCall Telecom with 48.70 million shares.
Shares of 484 companies were traded on Wednesday, of which 188 registered an increase, 235 recorded a fall, and 57 remained unchanged.
