KARACHI: On the eve of Ramazan, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday snapped its four-session losing streak as bulls staged a spectacular recovery drive, as investors indulged in aggressive value­­-hunting, which toss­­ed the benchmark KSE-100 index near the 179,000-point level after a massive battering in the recent sessions.

Topline Securities Ltd said the index settled at 178,853.10 points, up 5,702.68 points or 3.29 per cent, reflecting a market recovery. Throughout the day, the index moved within a band, touching an intraday high of 178,974 points and a low of 174,328 points amid low trading volume. However, investors recovered Rs560 billion in a single session.

The current account posted a surplus of $121 million in January, compared with a deficit of $393 million in the same month last year. However, the balance of payments in 7MFY26 remained in deficit at $1.074 billion during July-January FY26 compared to a surplus of $564m a year earlier.

Meanwhile, the Large-Scale Manufacturing sector posted a year-on-year growth of 4.82pc in the first half of FY26. However, industrial production gro­w­th in December 2025 slo­wed to 0.44pc year-on-year.

Support from major heavyweights, United Bank Ltd, Habib Bank Ltd, Meezan Bank Ltd, National Bank of Pakistan, and MCB Bank, underpinned the market’s performance, jointly adding 2,699 points to the benchmark. In contrast, Pakistan Oilfield Ltd, Pioneer Cement, and Adamjee Insurance weighed on the index, collectively trimming 163 points.

Despite a massive rally, market participation weakened, with trading volume dipping 2.56pc to 697.6 million. However, the traded value rose 23.52pc to Rs49.9 billion. K-Electric continued to dominate the volume chart, with 116 million shares traded.

Ali Najib, Deputy Head of Trading at Arif Habib Ltd (AHL), PSX staged a strong rebound, marking a decisive recovery following the recent correction.

Broad-based buying was witnessed throughout the session as investors capitalised on attractive valuations, with value hunters actively accumulating fundamentally strong stocks at discounted levels.

On the corporate front, Habib Bank Ltd reported CY25 earnings per share of Rs48.48, reflecting a 14pc year-on-year increase, and announced a dividend of Rs20 per share, its highest-ever payout, exceeding market expectations. The earnings growth was primarily driven by higher net interest income and lower provisioning expenses.

Analysts expect the 180,000 level to have now emerged as the immediate resistance level.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2026