PSX: buying continues at bourse, KSE-100 up over 900 points

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw continued buying activity on Thursday, with the KSE-100 Index jumping nearly 300 points during the opening minutes of trading. The benchmark index opened at 165,716.65, up 299.15 points or 0.18%. Key sectors such as automobile assemblers, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, and power generation witnessed positive buying.

Index-heavy stocks like HUBCO, OGDCC, POL, HBL, MCB, MEBL, NBP, and UBL were among the gainers. On Wednesday, the PSX had also recovered, aided by increased buying in refinery stocks and energy-related shares. However, investors remained cautious due to the absence of fresh triggers and ongoing geopolitical uncertainty. The KSE-100 Index finished the day at 165,417.51 points, up 641.07 points or 0.39%.

Globally, markets faced a bearish start as the US consumer price inflation rose more quickly than anticipated, suggesting a possible increase in Federal Reserve interest rates. MSCI's Asia-Pacific index excluding Japan declined by 1.2%, with South Korea's KOSPI falling by 5.6% and the Nikkei 225 dropping by 1.3%. US stock indices also suffered, with the S&P 500 e-mini futures down by 0.3%.

Wall Street stocks had declined for three consecutive days, following a spike in US consumer price inflation in September. This inflation data heightened expectations of interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve over the year, potentially as early as later this month. The probability of a 25-basis-point hike at the Fed's upcoming meeting on October 28 has risen to 31.6%, up from 22.1% the previous day.