Buying interest returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange after a one day sell off, resulting in a gain of more than 500 points in the benchmark KSE 100 Index.
According to reports, at around 11:00 am the KSE 100 Index rose by 538.45 points, or 0.29 percent, to reach 187,571.71 points. Buying activity was seen in automobile assemblers, cement, fertilizer, oil and gas exploration companies, oil marketing companies (OMCs), and the refinery sector. Shares of Mari Petroleum, OGDC, SNGPL, Fauji Fertilizer (FFC), Indus Motor, Lucky Cement, Habib Bank, Meezan Bank, and UBL also traded in positive territory.
Sources said that in a key development, foreign assistance received by Pakistan during the first half of the current fiscal year reached 4.51 billion dollars, which is 20 percent higher compared to the same period last year. According to figures released by the Economic Affairs Division, during July to December 2025–26, bilateral loans and grants amounted to 1.07 billion dollars, while loans and grants from multilateral institutions totaled 1.97 billion dollars.
It is worth noting that on Wednesday, the benchmark KSE 100 Index had closed at 187,033.27 points after a decline of 1,588.52 points, or 0.84 percent.
Meanwhile, at the global level on Thursday, the US dollar strengthened, gold prices softened, and a bullish trend returned to stock markets. In addition, Wall Street indices posted strong gains amid volatility, with the S&P 500 Index closing up 1.16 percent at the end of late night trading, marking its biggest single day increase in the past two months. During Asian hours, European futures also rose by 1.3 percent.
