Pakistan Stock Exchange started the week Monday on a positive note with share prices surging after the ceasefire accord with Afghanistan and confirmation of a staff-level accord with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
At the end of the day, the PSX’s benchmark KSE-100 Index soared to 166,242.90 points, gaining 2,436.69 points, or 1.47%.
As many as 485 companies transacted their shares in the stock market, of which 289 recorded gains and 156 sustained losses, while the share prices of 40 companies remained unchanged.
The gains reflected renewed investor confidence amid easing macroeconomic concerns and improved market liquidity.
Investor confidence strengthened after Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to an immediate ceasefire during talks in Doha, confirmed by Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, who said both sides would reconvene in Istanbul on October 25 for further discussions. The breakthrough came after a week of intense border clashes — the worst since the Taliban takeover in 2021.
Market optimism was further buoyed by the IMF’s staff-level agreement for the second review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the first under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), with the lender projecting GDP growth at 3.6% and inflation at 6% for FY26.
On Friday, the PSX had witnessed bearish trend as the benchmark KSE-100 index lost 638.50 points, showing a negative change of 0.39 percent, closing at 163,806.22 points.
A total of 1,978,654,033 shares were traded during the day compared to 3,078,369,285 shares on the previous day, while the total value of shares traded stood at Rs36.992 billion against Rs50.608 billion on the last trading day.
The three top trading companies were WorldCall Telecom with 891,368,186 shares at Rs2.23 per share, K-Electric Limited with 262,730,077 shares at Rs7.38 per share, and Bank of Punjab with 84,164,333 shares at Rs35.83 per share.
Ismail Industries Limited witnessed the maximum increase of Rs95.97 per share price, closing at Rs2,100.00, followed by The Thal Industries Corporation Limited with a Rs43.22 rise to close at Rs648,32 per share.
As many as 483 companies transacted their shares in the stock market, of which 166 recorded gains and 277 sustained losses, while the share prices of 40 companies remained unchanged.
Reporter Kavish Memon