Buying returns to bourse, KSE-100 up over 500 points

After a day of selling, buying interest returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining over 500 points during the opening minutes of Thursday. At 10:10am, the benchmark index was hovering at 187,571.71, an increase of 538.45 points or 0.29%. Buying was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and refinery. Index-heavy stocks, including MARI, OGDC, SNGPL, WAFI, INDU, LUCK, HBL, MEBL and UBL, traded in the green. In a key development, foreign assistance to Pakistan in the first half of 2025-26 reached $4.51 billion, registering an increase of 20% compared to the corresponding period of last year. According to data released by the Economic Affairs Division, the total bilateral loans and grants stood at $1.07 billion for the period from July to December 2025 -26, whereas multilateral grants and loans amounted to $1.97 billion during the same period.