Bullish sentiment dominated the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday as the benchmark KSE-100 Index surged past the 189,000 level within minutes of the opening bell. At 9:35am, the index stood at 189,389.25, up 767.47 points or 0.41%.

Strong buying interest was visible across major sectors including autos, cement, banking, fertiliser, exploration and production, OMCs and refineries. Heavyweight counters such as ARL, KE, MARI, OGDC, PPL, PSO, SNGPL, SSGC, HBL, MCB, NBP and UBL traded higher, contributing to early market strength.

Analysts attributed the rally to sustained inflows from local mutual funds, which have remained active buyers in recent sessions.

Adding to market sentiment, fresh data showed a sharp rise in profit and dividend repatriation by foreign investors. According to the State Bank of Pakistan, foreign firms remitted $1.559 billion during July–December FY26 up 27% from $1.226bn in the same period last year reflecting stronger earnings outflows.

On Tuesday, the market had already closed on a positive note, with the KSE-100 gaining 860.09 points (0.46%) to finish at 188,621.78 as domestic investors continued to accumulate positions.

Global markets, however, painted a contrasting picture. Asian equities extended losses for a third straight session amid geopolitical tensions fueled by renewed US threats to seize Greenland ahead of President Donald Trump’s address at Davos. Wall Street tumbled over 2% a day earlier, while the US dollar recorded its steepest drop in more than a month, prompting a flight to safe-haven assets as gold and silver hit fresh record highs.

Trump escalated rhetoric by refusing to rule out forceful action over Greenland and reigniting tariff concerns with Europe, raising the specter of a broader trade conflict. EU leaders are set to hold an emergency summit in Brussels on Thursday, underscoring risks to transatlantic relations.

Ahead of Trump’s address at the World Economic Forum, MSCI’s Asia-Pacific index outside Japan slipped 0.3% in early trading, while Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.2%, extending its losing streak to a fifth session.