The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued its upward momentum on Thursday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining 768.65 points, or 0.46%, to close at 166,186.16 points.
According to data available on the PSX website, the market opened on a positive note, with the benchmark index rising by more than 550 points during the initial minutes of trading. The buying momentum continued throughout the session, pushing the index to an intraday high of 166,877.01 points before it surrendered some gains.
Buying interest was observed across several major sectors, including automobile assemblers, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, oil marketing companies, and power generation.
The latest advance followed Wednesday’s recovery, when the KSE-100 Index gained 641.07 points, or 0.39%, to settle at 165,417.51 points. Refinery and other energy-related stocks contributed to the previous session’s gains.
Meanwhile, global markets faced pressure as technology stocks declined amid concerns over rising borrowing costs and debt-financed investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure. South Korea’s KOSPI fell more than 8%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 5.4%. The MSCI Asia-Pacific index excluding Japan also dropped 3.4%.
Oil prices declined on Thursday, with Brent crude futures falling 2.2% to $103.78 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude dropping 1.4% to $93.75 per barrel. Expectations of potential US measures to ease restrictions on Russian oil tankers weighed on prices, although geopolitical tensions and attacks on shipping in the Middle East limited the decline.
Despite uncertainty in international markets, the PSX benchmark maintained its positive trend for a second consecutive session, supported by buying across key sectors.