Positivity returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), led by an upward momentum in the international markets. The benchmark KSE-100 Index gained nearly 3,000 points during the opening hours of trading on Thursday.
At 12:05pm, the benchmark index hovered at 116,546.58, an increase of 2,393.43 points or 2.1%. Earlier, the index hit an intra-day high of 117,484.16.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump abruptly backed down in his global trade war with a 90-day pause for most countries – but slapped even more levies against China.
Across-the-board buying was observed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refinery. Index-heavy stocks including ARL, HUBCO, PSO, MARI, OGDC, PPL and POL traded in the green.
“Following international markets trend.. PSX opened up 3,000 pts close to 2.5%” said Mohammed Sohail, CEO of Topline Securities, in a note.
On Wednesday, selling pressure returned to the PSX amid concerns over a global trade war among investors, with the benchmark KSE-100 settling at 114,153.15, a decrease of 1,379.28 points or 1.19%.
Internationally, Asian shares climbed and a manic bond selloff stabilised on Thursday after US President Donald Trump said he would temporarily lower the hefty duties he had just imposed on dozens of countries.
Following a days-long market rout that erased trillions of dollars from global stocks and jolted US Treasury bonds and the dollar, Trump on Wednesday announced a 90-day pause on many of his new tariffs in a shock reversal.
But US stock futures and the dollar were left out of Thursday’s relief rally despite an overnight surge on Wall Street, as investors’ confidence in the US administration crumbles and the “sell America” trade heats up.
Nasdaq futures slid more than 1% after a brief rally early in the Asian session, while S&P 500 futures sank 0.75%.
Both indexes had clocked their biggest daily percentage gains in more than a decade during Wednesday’s cash session.
The dollar fell 0.7% against the yen and 0.6% against the Swiss franc, failing to sustain its sharp overnight jump against the two safe haven currencies, highlighting market uncertainty over the longer-term outlook.
In the broader market, Japan’s Nikkei and European futures were among the standout winners of the rally in Asia.
The Nikkei surged 8%, EUROSTOXX 50 futures and DAX futures climbed roughly 8% each, while FTSE futures jumped 5.4%.
Trump’s reversal on the country-specific tariffs is not absolute. A 10% blanket duty on almost all US imports will remain in effect, the White House said. The announcement also does not appear to affect duties on autos, steel and aluminium that are already in place.
He also heaped pressure on China, saying he would raise the tariff on Chinese imports to 125% from the 104% level that came into effect on Wednesday.
This is an intra-day update
