Bulls continued to march upwards at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) supported by strong sectoral performance and improving economic sentiment, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining over 700 points during the opening minutes of trading on Thursday.
At 10am, the benchmark index was hovering at 152,974.07, an increase of 772.20 points or 0.51%.
During trading, the index hit an intra-day high of 153,117.26.
Buying was observed in key sectors including cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refinery. Index-heavy stocks, including ARL, MARI, POL, PPL, PSO, SGNPL, HBL, MCB, MEBL and NBP traded in the green.
On Wednesday, the PSX extended its record-breaking run as the benchmark KSE-100 Index surged 1,226.39 points or 0.81% to settle at 152,201.88.
Internationally, Asian stocks moved higher in early trading on Thursday as dovish comments from Federal Reserve officials soothed investor nerves at a time of heightened concerns over global growth and a selloff in bond markets.
Australian shares advanced 0.8%, recovering from their biggest one-day sell-off since April, while the Nikkei 225 rose 1.2%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gave up early gains and was last down 0.2%, dragged lower by losses in China. The Shanghai Composite fell 1.6% and was on track for a third day of declines after a report in Bloomberg News that financial regulators are preparing cooling measures for the market.
Financial markets have started September in a downbeat mood, with a sell-off in longer-dated bonds dousing investor confidence ahead of the critical US non-farm payrolls on Friday. An auction of 30-year Japanese government bonds later today will test global debt markets’ appetite for super-long fixed income.
Overnight, the selloff in bond markets slowed, but concerns about the fiscal health of major economies from Japan to Britain and the United States kept long-dated borrowing costs pinned near multi-year highs.
Investors got a timely boost to sentiment after Federal Reserve officials, including Governor Christopher Waller, expressed support for rate cuts in the months ahead.
This is an intra-day update
