PSX: Buying at bourse, KSE-100 settles with modest gains

According to Business Recorder, buying interest emerged at the Pakistan Stock Exchange, and the benchmark KSE-100 closed 368.92 points higher at 169,969.32, a gain of 0.22%. The index initially climbed to an intraday high of 171,492.52, but the early gains faded as it drifted around the 171,000 level through midday. Selling pressure returned during the second half of the session.

Sellers dominated the second half, pushing the index to a low of 169,872.13 near the end of trading. Tuesday's fall of 825.22 points, or 0.48%, to 169,600.41 followed a late sell-off driven by rising global crude prices and Middle East tensions. The index still closed above that low, recouping part of the previous day's loss.

Separately, the Ministry of Finance unveiled a Strategic Action Plan for the local currency bond market on Tuesday, as part of an IMF-supported programme commitment. The plan aims to make government borrowing more predictable, widen the investor base and deepen secondary trading, alongside changes to the legal, tax and market framework for rupee securities. Globally, bonds weakened on Wednesday and were heading for their worst month in years, while Asian stocks held up better, with the MSCI Asia-Pacific index excluding Japan up 0.2% in early trading.