PSX: Stocks maintain upward momentum, KSE-100 up 500 points

Business Recorder reported that the benchmark KSE-100 index gained during the opening minutes of trading on Thursday, standing at 180,864.26 by 9:45am. That represented a rise of 553.05 points, or 0.31 per cent. The advance followed buying that returned on Wednesday after two sessions of profit-taking, helped late in the day by reports of an extension to the US-Iran ceasefire.

Buying was reported across cement, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil marketing companies and power generation. Index-heavy names HUBCO, FFC, MCB, NBP and UBL moved higher in early trade.

Internationally, Asian shares rose on Thursday after US consumer price data for July matched forecasts, easing bets on another near-term Federal Reserve rate increase. According to CME Group's FedWatch, money markets now price a 40 per cent chance of a hike next month, compared with 54 per cent a week earlier. Crude held close to $80 a barrel while Washington and Tehran stayed at an impasse over ending the Gulf war.