By Staff Reporter
KARACHI: Pakistani equities posted their strongest one-day gain in months on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump said he was pausing a military escort operation in the Strait of Hormuz to pursue a deal with Iran, easing fears of prolonged disruption to global oil flows.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index climbed 6,962.28 points, or 4.23%, to close at 171,704.75. It touched an intraday high of 172,088.58 before a modest late-session pullback. The rally came after a relatively quiet open, with the index trading in a narrow range through late morning before sentiment shifted sharply higher in the early afternoon.
The move capped a two-day advance for the market. Tuesday’s close at 164,742.47 already reflected early optimism over de-escalation, with the KSE-100 gaining 793.53 points, or 0.48%.“ The market staged a sharp rally as sentiment turned decisively positive following President Donald Trump’s signal of progress on a potential Iran deal, easing tensions around the Strait of Hormuz,” Karachi-based brokerage Topline Securities said in a post-market note. “Momentum received an additional boost during the session when Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reinforced the positive narrative via a statement appreciating Trump’s leadership and the timely de-escalation efforts. The endorsement further cemented investor confidence, adding fuel to the ongoing rally.”
A steep drop in global oil prices amplified the buying. Brent crude tumbled 1.2% to $108.51 a barrel in early Asian trading after Trump’s comments, with futures later falling below $102 as reports circulated that Washington and Tehran were nearing a one-page memorandum of understanding to end the conflict and establish a framework for detailed nuclear talks, according to Axios, citing US officials and sources briefed on the matter. The decline provided relief on Pakistan’s external accounts and inflation outlook, acting as a catalyst for cyclical sectors.
Index heavyweights drove the bulk of the advance. United Bank Ltd., Lucky Cement Ltd., Fauji Fertilizer Co., Pakistan Petroleum Ltd., Oil & Gas Development Co. and Engro Holdings Ltd. together contributed 2,920 points. Trading volume on the all-share index jumped to 1.202 billion shares from 453.22 million the previous session. The value of shares traded rose to 63 billion rupees from 22.78 billion rupees. Hascol Petrol Ltd. led turnover with 103.47 million shares, followed by K-Electric Ltd. at 80.51 million and Bank of Punjab at 68.05 million. Of 489 companies traded, 395 rose, 67 fell and 27 were unchanged.
Trump’s announcement Tuesday that he would briefly halt the US operation escorting ships through the Strait of Hormuz — which carries roughly one-fifth of global oil and has been blockaded by Iran since late February — triggered a broad risk-on move. The waterway’s disruption had helped fuel a global energy crisis and kept Pakistani investors on edge for months amid the broader US-Israel conflict with Iran and subsequent Iranian attacks on Gulf states.
In Asia, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan jumped 2.3% to a record, led by a 5.1% surge in South Korea’s Kospi, which cleared 7,000 for the first time. S&P 500 e-mini futures rose 0.3%. Wall Street had already hit fresh records Tuesday, with the S&P 500 gaining 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite advancing 1%.
Investors in Pakistan had grown increasingly cautious in recent months as regional tensions and volatile energy prices weighed on confidence. Wednesday’s developments offered the clearest signal yet of potential de-escalation. Topline noted that the drop in crude “acted as a catalyst for cyclical plays, amplifying buying interest and sustaining the upward trajectory.”
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