PSX Surges Over 4.5% as Hopes of Iran War De-escalation Boost Investor Confidence
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a strong bullish rally on Wednesday as positive developments in the Iran-US conflict sparked fresh optimism among investors. The benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 6,768.25 points, or 4.55%, to close at 155,511.56.

The market opened on a strong note and quickly gathered momentum. By early afternoon, the index had surged more than 5%, triggering a market halt as per PSX regulations. Trading resumed at 1:08 pm. Although the index hit an intraday high of 157,347.17, it saw some profit-taking later but still managed to hold most of its gains by the close.

Analysts attributed the sharp rally to easing regional tensions. Reports of a possible de-escalation in the Iran conflict, along with US President Donald Trump’s conciliatory remarks, triggered a broad-based “risk-on” sentiment. Declining international oil prices also supported the positive mood.

Behtari Capital noted that a surge of optimism fuelled the rally across the trading floor. Waqas Ghani, Head of Research at JS Global, described the buying as genuine and conviction-driven rather than speculative. He said the market was finally catching up with Pakistan’s resilient macroeconomic fundamentals.

Topline Securities highlighted that lower global oil prices and strong performance in international equity markets provided additional support to the bullish momentum.

Previous Session Performance

On Tuesday, the KSE-100 Index had already recovered strongly, gaining 1,900.34 points or 1.29% to close at 148,743.32. This came after a tough first quarter of 2026, during which the index dropped around 15% amid geopolitical uncertainty and persistent selling pressure.

Market Activity Highlights

• Total volume on the all-share index rose significantly to 670.87 million shares from 434.96 million the previous day.
• The value of traded shares increased to Rs43.98 billion.
• K-Electric Ltd led the volume chart with 78.57 million shares, followed by B.O.PunjabXD and Cnergyico PK.
• Out of 485 companies traded, 365 advanced, 67 declined, and 53 remained unchanged.

Global & Currency Update

Internationally, Asian markets also rallied on hopes of de-escalation. South Korea’s Kospi surged up to 5.5%, while Japan’s Nikkei jumped 3.9%. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 2.9% the previous day.

The Pakistani rupee showed slight improvement, appreciating 0.01% against the US dollar to close at 279.12.

This strong performance reflects growing investor confidence that a potential end to the regional conflict could ease pressure on oil prices and support Pakistan’s economy. However, analysts remain cautious and advise monitoring further developments from Washington and Tehran.