KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday extended its recovery drive for the second straight session amid renewed buying interest at attractive valuations despite persistent geopolitical tensions.

Ali Najib, Deputy Head of Trading at Arif Habib Ltd (AHL), said the PSX staged a strong recovery, closing at 154,292, up 4,276 points, reflecting a notable improvement in market sentiment.

The session remained volatile, with the index touching an intraday high of 154,684 and a low of 150,284, as investors capitalised on attractive valuations. The rebound was supported by slightly easing international oil prices and renewed selective value hunting, around the 150,000-point level.

On the macro and geopolitical front, developments remained mixed. Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia for high-level diplomatic engagements. At the same time, recent airstrikes in Afghanistan have heightened regional tensions, raising concerns over broader geopolitical stability.

Additionally, potential new conditions from the IMF on tax enforcement remain a key risk factor for the direction of economic policy.

Despite these uncertainties, the market has shown resilience, with the index up 2.85pc week-to-date, positioning itself for its first positive weekly close since January. Notably, the recurring pattern of Monday marking weekly lows for the third consecutive week indicates a strengthening technical base and improving investor confidence heading into the final session before the holiday period.

Topline Securities Ltd said the rally was primarily led by index-heavy stocks such as United Bank, Oil and Gas Development Company, Fauji Fertiliser, Pakistan Petroleum Ltd, and Meezan Bank Ltd, which collectively added 1,816 points to the benchmark, providing significant support to the market.

Conversely, National Bank of Pakistan, Pakistan Aluminium Beverage Cans Ltd, Highnoon, and LCO were laggards, losing 110 points.

Market participation improved as trading surged 52.61pc to 397 million shares, and value traded rose 29.91pc to Rs22.3 billion. Bank of Punjab topped the volume chart with 54 million shares.

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2026