Pakistan stocks extended their rebound on Wednesday morning, with investors returning to the market after a sharp sell-off in the previous session. Optimism over easing geopolitical tensions and hopes of fresh external financing for Pakistan helped fuel broad-based buying across major sectors.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index climbed as much as 2,100 points within minutes of the opening bell before giving up part of those gains. By 10:00am, the index was trading at 179,012.28, up 1,929.06 points, or 1.09 percent, from Tuesday’s close of 177,083.22. During early trade, the market touched an intraday high of 179,463.43, while the session low stood at 179,012.28.
Trading activity remained healthy, with more than 48.2 million shares changing hands in the first hour. Despite recent swings, the benchmark index is still up 25.15 percent over the past year and has gained 2.85 percent since the start of 2026.
The buying spree came after comments from Qatari and US officials raised hopes of a diplomatic solution to the Iran conflict, lifting investor confidence across regional markets.
Adding to the positive mood, reports suggested Pakistan has asked China to refinance a $1.3 billion commercial loan. The funds are expected later this month once both sides finalise the terms, easing concerns over the country’s external financing needs.
Most of the market’s heavyweight sectors traded in positive territory, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil marketing companies, power generation and refineries. Large-cap stocks such as ARL, MARI, OGDC, PPL, POL, PSO, HBL, MCB, MEBL and UBL all posted gains during early trading.
Among the busiest stocks, DBCI rose 4.66 percent, SSGC gained 2.66 percent, Hascol advanced 2.40 percent, MLCF added 1.79 percent and Bank of Punjab edged up 1.07 percent. On the other hand, TRSM fell 3.47 percent and TSBL slipped 0.77 percent.
The strongest performers included FTSM, 786, JATM, SUHJ and EWIC, with each climbing close to the 10 percent upper limit. On the losing side, OML dropped 10 percent, while ASLPS, ARMG and KHYT also suffered steep declines.
Wednesday’s recovery followed Tuesday’s sharp retreat, when investors locked in profits after Monday’s powerful rally erased most of the market’s early gains.
Global markets also provided support. Asian shares moved higher after strong US corporate earnings and fresh enthusiasm for technology stocks pushed Wall Street to record highs. Lower oil prices, driven by hopes of progress on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, further improved investor sentiment across the region.
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