KARACHI; The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed on a strong note Friday, with bullish sentiment driven by reports of a renewed ceasefire agreement between Pakistan and Afghanistan, coupled with optimism during the ongoing corporate earnings season.
According to market analysts, investor confidence surged following confirmation from Turkiye’s foreign ministry that Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban regime had agreed to uphold the ceasefire after a fresh round of talks in Istanbul. The discussions, held between October 25 and 30, were aimed at reinforcing the truce initially agreed upon in Doha earlier this month.
“Bullish activity was witnessed after reports that Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to maintain a ceasefire in the cross-border conflict,” said Ahsan Mehanti, Managing Director and CEO of Arif Habib Commodities. “Speculations in the earnings season also played a catalyst role in boosting activity at the PSX,” he added.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index surged by 3,802.73 points, or 2.43%, to an intraday high of 160,625.86, before settling higher after a volatile session that saw the index dip to a low of 158,195.54, still reflecting a gain of 1,462.67 points, or 0.93%.
In parallel, the State Bank of Pakistan reported that its foreign exchange reserves increased by $16 million to $14.471 billion during the week ending October 24. However, total liquid reserves declined slightly to $19.687 billion, compared with $19.853 billion the previous week, as commercial-bank reserves dropped to $5.216 billion. The central bank projects its reserves to reach $17.8 billion by the end of the current fiscal year.
The rally came after Thursday’s session saw the market shed 1,732.19 points (1.09%), closing at 156,732.87. However, renewed geopolitical stability and improved investor outlook reversed the trend, driving the PSX to record one of its strongest single-day gains in weeks.
