Bulls Charge Ahead as Ceasefire Boosts Investor Confidence
The week opened on a strong note as the bulls dominated the trading floor, propelling the benchmark KSE-100 Index to an impressive intraday gain of 2,615 points before closing at 166,242, up 2,436 points or 1.49%.
Market euphoria was fueled by a major diplomatic breakthrough — Pakistan and Afghanistan reached an immediate ceasefire agreement following high-level negotiations in Doha, Qatar. The accord, emphasizing mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, was welcomed by investors as a sign of improving regional stability and potential economic cooperation.
Banking heavyweights led the charge, with HBL, UBL, BOP, NBP, and AKBL collectively contributing 989 points to the index’s rally. Broader market sentiment remained buoyant throughout the session, as investors poured into equities across multiple sectors.
Trading activity reflected this optimism, with volumes soaring to 1,476 million shares and market turnover reaching Rs. 51.8 billion. K-Electric (KEL) emerged as the volume leader, witnessing 229 million shares traded.
Overall, the ceasefire-driven optimism set a constructive tone for the week, reinforcing confidence in the market’s upward momentum.
Earlier, stock Market opened on Monday with gain of 1347 points or 0.82 percent in early trading hours.
It had touched 165154 points which was up 0.82 percent.
Earlier, market ended the week on Friday on a positive note, albeit remaining volatile throughout the week, pressured by investor skepticism given uncertainty stemming from heightened geopolitical tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
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However, Pakistan secured a staff-level agreement with IMF in it’s second review for the US$7bn Extended Fund Facility program and first review of Resilience and Sustainability Facility.
The benchmark index inclined by 708pts during the week, witnessing it’s second highest single-day gain of 7,033pts on Tuesday, up 0.4%WoW, to close at 163,806pts, moreover, market participation strengthened by 36%WoW with avg daily traded volume up to 2.2bn shares, compared to 1.6bn shares in the prior week.
