Market recovery: KSE-100 surges over 2% after record drop

Karachi: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) opened on a positive note Friday, rebounding from Thursday’s historic losses amid a relatively calm start to the day. Investor sentiment showed signs of recovery as early trading passed without any fresh developments that could unsettle the market.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index surged to an intraday high of 105,946.01, gaining 2,419.2 points, or 2.33%, from the previous close of 103,526.81. However, the index also displayed volatility, dipping to a low of 102,420.82—down 1.06%—before rebounding strongly.

“After falling sharply by 6% yesterday due to drone attacks, Pakistani stocks have recovered and are up 2% in the first 30 minutes of trading on Friday,” said Topline Securities CEO Mohammad Sohail. “So far, there has been no news of any major escalation, helping restore confidence.”

Investors are closely watching the IMF Executive Board meeting scheduled for today, which is set to consider the disbursement of $1.3 billion under Pakistan’s 37-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF).

The Board will also review Pakistan’s request to modify performance criteria and gain access to the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF). A staff-level agreement on the $7 billion programme was reached in March, and if approved, this latest tranche would raise total disbursements to nearly $2 billion.

The market’s recovery comes just a day after it recorded its worst-ever single-day loss, with the KSE-100 plunging by 6,482.21 points, or 5.89%. Trading was halted for an hour on Thursday after the KSE-30 Index dropped more than 5% within five minutes, triggering the market’s circuit breaker.