PSX jumps nearly 4,000 points as hopes of US-Iran peace boost investor confidence

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a powerful rally on Wednesday with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining almost 4,000 points as investors responded positively to developments in the United States and renewed expectations of a possible reduction in tensions involving Iran.

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a powerful rally on Wednesday with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining almost 4,000 points as investors responded positively to developments in the United States and renewed expectations of a possible reduction in tensions involving Iran.

The benchmark index climbed 3,994.62 points representing a rise of 2.38% to close at 172,013.48 points. The strong performance marked one of the market’s biggest single-day advances in recent trading sessions and took the index beyond the significant 172,000-point level.

Buying activity was evident from the opening bell. By 10:04am the index had already added 1,707.48 points or 1.02% reaching 169,726.34 points. The upward momentum gathered strength as the session progressed reflecting growing confidence among market participants.

Optimism surrounding the US midterm election results contributed to the positive sentiment alongside reports of a proposed framework for an agreement between Washington and Tehran. Investors appeared encouraged by the possibility that diplomatic progress could help ease geopolitical uncertainty.

A decline in global oil prices also supported the rally. Brent crude futures fell $1.75 or 0.7%, to $101.85 per barrel at 10:34am GMT after dropping by as much as $2 earlier. US West Texas Intermediate crude declined $1.18 or 1.2%, to $94.91 per barrel reversing an earlier increase.

Sana Tawfik head of research at Arif Habib Limited told The Minute Mirror that institutional and fund buying changing political dynamics in Washington reports of a draft US-Iran proposal and relatively stable oil prices had helped strengthen the market.

Trading activity increased considerably with total volume reaching 841.6 million shares compared with 517.3 million shares in the previous session. The value of shares traded stood at Rs35.3 billion.

Of the 499 companies traded in the ready market 368 closed in positive territory 103 recorded losses and 28 remained unchanged. TPL Properties led trading volumes with 67.9 million shares changing hands. Its stock gained Rs0.68 to finish at Rs12.67.