Buying returns to bourse, KSE-100 gains over 500 points in early trade

Positive sentiments returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining over 500 points during the opening minutes of trading on Wednesday. At 9:35am, the benchmark index was hovering at 161,502.29, a gain of 567.16 points or 0.35%. Buying interest was observed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refinery. Index-heavy stocks, including ARL, HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, POL, PPL, HBL, MCB, MEBL and UBL, traded in the green. On Tuesday, PSX was consumed by strong selling pressure culminating in a decidedly bearish session across the board. The benchmark KSE-100 Index fell sharply, losing 752.05 points to settle at 160,935.13 points, marking a 0.47% decline. Internationally, Asian markets struggled to make headway on Wednesday as a bout of nerves over AI valuations held back investors ahead of an earnings update from chip titan Nvidia.