Business
PSX tops 179,000 as equities extend rally | The Express Tribune
The new flat 15% CGT rate for filers and 20% for non-filers will be applicable to only those shares that are bought and sold on and after July 1, 2017. PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI:
Pakistan equities extended their bullish run at the start of 2026, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index surging 1.52% on Friday to close slightly above 179,000, driven largely by sustained buying from local institutional investors. The rally followed a strong weekly performance marked by gains in banking, fertiliser and energy stocks, while robust fertiliser sales data further boosted investor sentiment. Despite foreign investors remaining net sellers, broad-based participation and heavy trading volumes underscored growing confidence in the market’s near-term outlook.
“The rally was once again driven by domestic institutional buying, with broad-based participation across blue-chip stocks, reinforcing the prevailing positive trend,” said Ali Najib, Deputy Head of Trading at Arif Habib Limited.
At the close of trading, the benchmark KSE-100 Index posted a gain of 2,679.44 points, or 1.52%, to settle at 179,034.93.
According to Arif Habib Limited (AHL), the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a strong start to 2026, with the KSE-100 Index gaining 3.85% on a week-on-week basis. On Friday, market breadth remained positive as 64 shares closed higher, while 35 declined. United Bank Limited (UBL), Engro Fertilisers (EFERT) and Engro Holdings (ENGROH) were the major contributors to index gains, rising by 4.73%, 10.0% and 2.89%, respectively. In contrast, Lucky Cement (LUCK), Maple Leaf Cement (MLCF) and DG Khan Cement (DGKC) emerged as the biggest drags on the index, shedding 0.54%, 1.09% and 1.16%, respectively.
On the macroeconomic front, data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed that Pakistan recorded a trade deficit of $3.7 billion in December 2025. Exports during the month stood at $2.3 billion, reflecting a sharp decline of 20.4% year-on-year and 4.3% month-on-month, while imports rose to $6.0 billion, up 2.0% year-on-year and 13.5% month-on-month. Cumulatively, during the first half of FY26, the trade deficit widened by 34.6% year-on-year to $19.2 billion.
Meanwhile, the government is reportedly considering imposing a levy of up to 5% on the import of mobile phones and electronic devices under a proposed policy framework for 202633, a move expected to be positive for Airlink, whose shares gained 1.21%. From a technical perspective, AHL noted that immediate support for the KSE-100 is placed at 175,000 points, while 182,000 points represents the near-term upside target for the coming week.
A Topline Securities market review said the KSE-100 Index continued its bullish momentum, gaining 1.52% to close at 179,039. The rally was attributed to recent buying by local institutions on new allocations. Investor interest was particularly evident in the fertiliser sector, following Topline Securities Limited’s report, “Pakistan Fertiliser – Urea sales for Dec 2025 at an all-time high of 1,356,000 tonnes; inventory at 0.31 million tonnes.” The fertiliser sector closed 2.7% higher.
The top positive contribution to the index came from UBL, EFERT, ENGROH, PPL, OGDC and FFC, which cumulatively added 1,663 points. In terms of traded value, Bank of Punjab (Rs4.28 billion), PSO (Rs3.98 billion), PPL (Rs3.33 billion), OGDC (Rs3.24 billion), MARI (Rs3.16 billion), HUBC (Rs2.56 billion) and MEBL (Rs2.55 billion) dominated trading activity. Traded volume and value for the day stood at 1.1 billion shares and Rs64 billion, respectively.
Overall trading volume in the Ready Market was recorded at approximately 1.11 billion shares, compared with 1.40 billion in the previous session. The value of shares traded stood at Rs64.34 billion.
Shares of 484 companies were traded in the Ready Market. Of these, 253 stocks closed higher, 201 declined and 30 remained unchanged.
Bank of Punjab was the volume leader, with trading in 102.5 million shares, gaining Rs1.89 to close at Rs42.23. It was followed by K-Electric with 100.09 million shares, losing Rs0.12 to close at Rs6.35, and Media Times Limited with 43.63 million shares, gaining Re1 to close at Rs5.84.
Foreign investors sold shares worth Rs7 billion, according to data released by the National Clearing Company.
A trade body for European airports has warned over a “systemic” shortage of jet fuel ahead of the peak summer season if the Strait of Hormuz does not reopen in the weeks ahead.
Airports Council International (ACI), which represents more than 600 airports, wrote a letter to the European commissioners for energy and transport and tourism.
The body’s director-general Olivier Jankovec wrote in the letter: “At this stage, we understand that if the passage through the Strait of Hormuz does not resume in any significant and stable way within the next three weeks, systemic jet fuel shortage is set to become a reality for the EU.
“The fact that we are entering the peak summer season… is only adding to those concerns.”
Supplies of jet fuel – which is used to fly planes – from the Middle East have been disrupted since the US-Israel’s war with Iran because of Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical international shipping route.
This has led to soaring prices and warnings that flights could be affected because of Europe’s reliance on fuel imports from around the world.
Analysts have also said higher jet fuel prices can be quicker to pass through to airfares than road fuel and household energy costs.
Ryanair’s boss Michael O’Leary said earlier this month that if the war continues, then there was a risk of “disruptions in Europe in May and June”, adding that “maybe 10%, 20%, 25% of our supplies might be at risk”.
Sir Keir Starmer has been visiting allies in the Gulf for talks on how to support what he described as a “fragile” ceasefire between the US and Iran, which was agreed this week.
He spoke to US President Donald Trump about the need for a “practical plan” to get shipping going through the Strait of Hormuz amid suggestions Tehran wants to charge vessels for passage.
In its letter, the ACI says jet fuel supply for the next six months needs to be urgently monitored by the European Commission, including identifying action that can be taken to increase production within the EU.
It also asks them to consider temporarily lifting restrictions and regulations that limit the ability to import jet fuel.
“This crisis has exposed the reduced refining capacity of the EU for jet fuel production, and its acute dependence on imports from other world regions,” Mr Jankovec warned on behalf of the body.
Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist for Wealth Club, said: “Carriers have had to deal with a more than doubling of fuel costs since the conflict erupted and the threat of shortages lingers.
“As the war has put a chokehold on supplies from the Middle East, it has caused other nations which produce jet fuel to impose export bans, causing trade to seize up further.
“It will take time to unwind panic positions, and for jet fuel prices to stabilise, so airlines are likely to continue to pass on the cost to passengers for the foreseeable future.”
Chrysler and Dodge CEO Matt McAlear wants the world to know that the minivan is not dead. Far from it, he said, at the New York International Auto Show, where he showed off the latest version of the Pacifica Pinnacle, the highest-end trim of the brand’s sole product line.
The Chrysler brand — once one of the biggest names in the auto industry — only sells a single family of minivans, which many take as a sign of the brand’s impending demise.
Chrysler, which has been promising new products for years, said it will share more plans at parent company Stellantis‘ investor day on May 21 in Auburn Hills, Michigan. McAlear didn’t elaborate further but said the brand had “a lot of things in the works” and touted its only vehicle.
“We absolutely see the minivan market growing, and we believe there’s an opportunity for Chrysler to continue its growth year over year,” McAlear said. Chrysler is the best-selling brand in the segment, he added.
Matt McAlear, chief executive officer of Chrysler and Dodge, during the 2026 New York International Auto Show (NYIAS) in New York, US, on Wednesday, April 1, 2026.
Bing Guan | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Minivan resurgence?
Chrysler is often credited with inventing the minivan, or at least mainstreaming it in the United States in the early 1980s. Rivals followed, but many have since abandoned it.
Since the 1990s, minivans have steadily lost ground to SUVs, which are considered sportier and more adventurous. Minivan sales were a mere 1.7% of the market in 2017, according to Edmunds. In 2025, they were up to 2.4%.
Sales numbers from Chrysler and its few competitors in this segment indicate growing interest in the adaptive and often affordable “multipurpose vehicle,” as the minivan is sometimes called. The average transaction price for a large SUV is $77,215, according to Edmunds. The average minivan price, meanwhile, is $48,269 — just above the overall industry average cost for a new vehicle of $48,402.
There is enough demand that Chrysler saw fit to unveil a new highest-end version of its minivan at the Auto Show, called the Pinnacle. The vehicle is full of features common in higher-end family vehicles, like screens on the backs of seats so passengers in a rear row can watch movies on a road trip. But there are also some perks that are tough to find outside the segment: both second and third row seats on some versions can be completely stowed in the floor, for example.
Companies like Chrysler are also trying to look beyond the “family hauler” identity the minivan has had for much of its history. Its Grizzly Peak concept has knobby tires and a roof rack, for a more rugged option and McAlear said the company was thinking about how to do more of that.
“We’re looking at it,” he said. “We’re trying to figure out if there’s a way to do it because people love it. And it is unlike anything you’ve ever seen from a minivan brand before.”
McAlear also touted the van’s storage capacity compared with similar vehicles.
“I’ve got a friend that’s a racecar driver,” he said. “One of his favorite things about this is he puts a shifter kart in the backseat with the third row down, with his kids so he can keep it safe and doesn’t have to have a trailer. Another buddy of mine loves kiteboarding, and he doesn’t want to put it on the top because it’s hard to get it up and down. It’s hard to keep it secure and safe. He keeps it inside.”
Pacifica sales were only up slightly in 2025. The affordable Voyager model, which the brand has since renamed the Pacifica LX, sells in lower quantities but saw a bigger jump. Pacifica sales were down for the first quarter of 2026, but Chrysler said they were up nearly 84% in March year over year.
There are only a handful of vehicles in this segment in the U.S., or five basic model lines including the electric Volkswagen ID Buzz, which VW prefers not to call a minivan.
Toyota Sienna sales jumped 35% in 2025, and were up again in the first quarter of 2026. It’s nowhere near Toyota’s best-selling vehicle, and many models — some of which were new ones or refreshes — saw greater increase. Toyota’s Japanese rival Honda saw sales of its Odyssey jump 10% last year. But they dipped in the first quarter of 2026.
One especially successful model has been the Kia Carnival. Volumes rose in 2025 and in the first quarter of 2026. It still doesn’t match Kia’s comparable SUVs, as minivan sales are just a few thousand shy of the three-row Sorento, but far below the popular, more rugged Telluride.
“Carnival is just a great family, practical vehicle,” said Eric Watson, vice president of sales operations for Kia America. “I think in the stage of life when people have kids and want those power sliding doors and the configuration of what that vehicle provides, it’s perfect in that life stage.”
Kia was one of the later entrants into the segment, and though it has the sliding rear door that defines the minivan segment, the body panel on it is punched into give the illusion the vehicle is an SUV.
“I think that attracts a lot of people and lowers that stigma of being a minivan family,” Watson said.
But some are attracted to the segment itself. While the Chrysler Pinnacle starts above $56,000, the lowest priced LX, starts just above $41,000.
“We’re actually seeing a resurgence,” McAlear said. “At the end of the day, these things make life easier and you don’t always have to impress everybody.”
Business
US stock market today (April 10, 2026): S&P 500, Nasdaq rise on tech gains after inflation data – The Times of India
US equity benchmarks traded mixed on Friday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq moving higher on strength in technology stocks after March inflation data came in line with expectations, while investors kept a close watch on geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.US consumer prices rose the most in nearly four years in March, driven by higher oil prices linked to the Iran conflict and continued tariff pass-through. Despite this, traders maintained expectations that the US Federal Reserve will hold borrowing costs steady this year, scaling back earlier bets of two rate cuts prior to the conflict, according to Reuters.“When paired with Thursday’s PCE data, the message is clear: inflation remains sticky – and that optimistically assumes the energy surge proves to be a temporary headwind rather than a lasting recalibration,” said Bret Kenwell, US investment analyst at eToro. “It should keep policymakers on pause, unless we see a more notable deterioration in the labor market or the broader economy.”San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly told Reuters on Thursday the oil shock from the Iran war would extend the timeline on bringing inflation back to the US central bank’s 2% target.At 10:15 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 109.60 points, or 0.23%, at 48,076.20, while the S&P 500 gained 10.56 points, or 0.15%, to 6,835.22, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 123.70 points, or 0.54%, to 22,946.11.Gains were led by technology stocks, with the S&P 500 information technology index advancing 0.8%, supported by chipmakers. Nvidia rose 1.8% and Broadcom climbed 4.4%, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor index touched a record high of 8,926.08.However, declines in financial stocks, down 0.8%, limited the broader upside. Goldman Sachs and Travelers weighed on the Dow.On a weekly basis, Wall Street’s main indexes were poised for gains, with the S&P 500 and Dow set for their strongest weekly rise since November and June, respectively.Investor sentiment was supported by the two-week ceasefire between Washington and Tehran, along with remarks from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicating efforts to initiate direct talks with Beirut. However, the Pakistan-brokered truce showed signs of strain, with both sides accusing each other of violations ahead of talks scheduled for Saturday.“This is a headline-driven market… as long as the ceasefire holds and the market sees a path toward relative calm in the Middle East, investors should be able to look through disruptions,” said Jeff Buchbinder, chief equity strategist at LPL Financial.Separately, preliminary data showed the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index fell to 47.6 in April, below economists’ expectations of 52, according to a Reuters poll.US-listed shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, rose 2.7% after reporting stronger-than-expected first-quarter revenue.CoreWeave advanced 6.8% after announcing a multi-year agreement with Anthropic and pricing its convertible bond offering at a premium.Advancing stocks outpaced decliners by a 1.22-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by 1.07-to-1 on the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 recorded 17 new 52-week highs and 18 new lows, while the Nasdaq logged 84 new highs and 70 new lows.
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