The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) erupted in celebration on Wednesday, recording one of its most historic single-day gains as investors cheered the global peace momentum brokered by Pakistan and easing tensions between Iran and the United States, with the KSE-100 index surging over 14,000 points in a fast-track rally.

As the trading commenced, the KSE-30 index rallied sharply, sparking a powerful surge that led to a market halt after crossing the 5% upper threshold, in accordance with PSX regulations.

In its market halt announcement, PSX stated that a 5% rise in the KSE-30 triggered a temporary halt, suspending all equity markets and cancelling outstanding orders.

After trading resumed at 10:42am, the rally continued with the index climbing to 164,973.53, up 13,300.08 points (8.77%), building on an earlier festive peak of 164,035.83 (+8.15%) at 9:57am.

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By the close, the rally had strengthened even further, with the index hitting an intra-day high of 165,924.14 and a low of 162,956.77. The market ultimately posted substantial gains of 14,137.55 points, or 9.32% and settled at 165,811.01.

“KSE-100 opened sharply higher by +12,920 points (+8.5% gap), tracking a major improvement in the external backdrop. Sentiment turned decisively positive after the US and Iran agreed to a Pakistan-brokered ceasefire, with talks set in Islamabad on April 10, triggering a 15–16% drop in global oil prices as risk premium eased. This led to market halt as KSE-30 stayed above 5% for 5 minutes,” KTrade Securities equity trader Ahmed Sheraz told The Express Tribune.

Commenting on market’s overall scenario, he added that regionally, improving Pakistan-Afghanistan ties (via China) and stable domestic macros including $1.43 billion Eurobond repayment and steady reserves/remittances have further reinforced confidence, alongside continued support commitment from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Read More: US, Iran agree to Pakistan-brokered two-week ceasefire with reopening of Strait of Hormuz

Near-term direction hinges on the outcome of US-Iran talks; sustained de-escalation could keep oil prices soft and support market momentum, Sheraz anticipated.

Topline Securities’ Mohammed Sohail commented that Pakistan equities roared back, with KSE-100 soaring 14,000 points (+9%)—one of the biggest single-day gains ever—on the back of the US–Iran ceasefire and cooling oil prices. “Momentum was widespread as 130+ stocks hit the 10% upper cap, reflecting a powerful return of risk appetite,” he mentioned.

Overall trading volume jumped to 1.24billion against Tuesday’s tally of 357.2 million, The value of trade shares stood at Rs54.4 billion. Shares of 491 companies were traded. Of these 448 closed higher, 16 fell and 27 remained unchanged. First National Equities was the volume leader with trading in 212.4 million shares.