KSE-100 rebounds after early plunge

Pakistan’s benchmark KSE-100 index rose modestly by 968.93 points, or 0.62 per cent, by 10:40am on Thursday after opening on a volatile note.

Earlier in the session, the index had dropped more than 1,700 points by 9:55am before staging a recovery.

So far, the index has recorded an intraday high of 156,837.83 points and a low of 153,503.70 points.

The volatility comes in the wake of oil prices surging more than 9pc to break back above $100 a barrel after fresh Iranian strikes on supplies and infrastructure in the Middle East overshadowed a record release of stockpiles by the International Energy Agency.

Brent crude jumped 9.3pc to $100.50, while West Texas Intermediate rose 8.8pc to $94.92 at around 03:05 GMT.

Similar swings were seen in Wednesday’s session, when the index ultimately slipped 8.65 points, or 0.2pc, to close in the red after gaining nearly 2,000 points during intraday trading.

Furthermore, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday confirmed that its mission could not reach a staff level agreement (SLA) on the third review of the country’s $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the second review of the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) despite considerable progress, and that negotiations would continue.