Bulls extended their rally at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday, as investor sentiment strengthened following Saudi Arabia’s commitment of $3 billion in additional deposits to Pakistan and growing expectations that US–Iran peace talks could resume after recent Islamabad negotiations. According to the PSX website, the market opened on a bullish note, and the benchmark KSE-100 Index surged past the 170,000 level in early trade, with a gain of over 5,000 points. Buying was observed across key sectors, including oil and gas exploration, oil marketing companies, cement, commercial banks, power generation and refinery.

Index-heavy stocks such as ARL, PRL, OGDC, POL, PPL, MARI, HBL, MCB, MEBL and UBL traded higher. By 10:11 am, the index was trading at 169,733.38, up 4098.54 points, or 2.47%, reflecting broad-based buying across the market. The surge followed confirmation by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb that Saudi Arabia would provide $3 billion in fresh deposits, with disbursement expected within a week.

He also said the existing $5 billion Saudi deposit would be extended beyond the earlier annual rollover arrangement. Today’s rally builds on gains recorded in Tuesday’s session, when the KSE-100 Index climbed 5,043.51 points, or 3.14%, to close at 165,634.85, supported by easing geopolitical tensions and expectations of renewed US–Iran engagement. Global markets also reflected improved sentiment.

Asian stocks tracked Wall Street ​higher on Wednesday as hopes for a resumption of U.S.-Iran peace talks pushed oil ‌prices lower, while the dollar steadied after seven days of losses. President Donald Trump said talks with Iran could resume in Pakistan over the next two days, after the collapse of weekend negotiations prompted Washington to impose a blockade on ​Iranian ports. Pakistani and Iranian officials also said negotiations could restart.

Signs that diplomatic engagement would ​continue helped calm markets, pushing benchmark oil prices firmly below $100 a barrel. Brent ⁠crude futures fell 0.7% to $94.13 a barrel, having slumped almost 5% overnight. Stock investors cheered, with MSCI’s ​broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gaining 1.5% to the highest level in six weeks.

Japan’s ​Nikkei also climbed 1.2% to 58,561 points, closing in on the record high of 59,332.43 from late February. Chinese blue-chips rose 0.5% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 1.2%. Overnight on Wall Street, the Nasdaq climbed 2% to chalk up its 10th straight day of gains and the S&P 500 flirted with a record closing high.

The safe-haven U.S. dollar stabilised after falling for a seventh straight session overnight. The euro held steady at $1.1791, having hit a six-week top of $1.1811 overnight. Gold prices added ⁠0.1% ​to $4,846 an ounce.