Peace talks boost sentiment: PSX opens strong with over 3,300 points gain

Positive sentiments returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as investors rejoiced after Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to resume peace talks, driving the benchmark KSE-100 Index up by over 3,300 points during the first half of the trading session on Friday.

At 12pm, the benchmark index was hovering at 160,052.08, an increase of 3,319.21 points or 2.12%.

Buying interest was observed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refinery. Index-heavy stocks, including HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, PPL, POL, PSO, SSGC and SNGPL, traded in the green.

“Buying interest has returned as sentiment improved following news that Pakistan and the Afghan regime agreed to extend the ceasefire in recent talks held in Istanbul,” Waqas Ghani, Head of Research at JS Global, told Business Recorder.

“The development has eased regional geopolitical concerns, boosting investor confidence and prompting a renewed wave of buying across the market. That said, recent corporate results were largely lacklustre, falling short of expectations and tempering some of the optimism,” he added.

Afghanistan and Pakistan agreed to resume peace talks in Istanbul on November 6 and to maintain a ceasefire until then, Turkey’s foreign ministry said late Thursday.

“All parties have agreed to continue the ceasefire. The modalities of its implementation will be examined and decided at a high-level meeting in Istanbul on November 6, 2025,” the ministry said in a statement.

Turkiye and Qatar have been jointly mediating between the two countries after they clashed along their border.

On Thursday, the PSX extended its losing streak as heavy selling pressure gripped the market, dragging the benchmark KSE-100 Index down. The benchmark index dived 1,732.19 points, or 1.09%, to close at 156,732.87 points.

Internationally, Asian shares are set for a seventh straight month of gains on Friday, after upbeat earnings from Amazon and Apple buoyed Wall Street futures and the dollar hovered near three-month highs on uncertainty over further Federal Reserve rate cuts.

Nasdaq futures jumped 1.2% and S&P 500 futures gained 0.6% as Amazon’s stellar earnings sent its shares up a staggering 13% after the bell, which added over $300 billion to its market value. Apple also rose 2.3% after its outlook on iPhone sales topped estimates.

That offset the drag from Meta and Microsoft overnight amid worries over their surging AI spending. Six of the “Magnificent Seven” U.S. tech megacaps have now reported and the results have been mixed. Nvidia, the world’s first $5 trillion company, is due to report in three weeks.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.2% on Friday, as gains elsewhere were offset by losses in Chinese stocks.

The index was poised for a weekly gain of 1.8% and a monthly rise of 4.7%.

This is an intra-day update