By Bilal Ahmed  |  13 November 2026

KSE-100 Gains 500 Points to Close at 177,874 as Mari Discovery Lifts Market

The Pakistan Stock Exchange closed higher on Friday, 13 November 2026, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining 500.11 points to settle at 177,873.88. The recovery was powered by a major minerals discovery announced by Mari Petroleum, which turned sentiment around in the second half of a volatile session — a day after the market had shed 1,710 points.

Friday’s session swung both ways. The index started from its intra-day low of 176,865.05 points, climbed gradually towards 178,000, and pushed on to an intra-day high of 179,284.34 in the afternoon before a sharp correction from the peak gave back much of the advance. Even after the late selling, the benchmark held on to positive territory — closing 0.28 percent higher than Thursday’s close of 177,373.76.

The turning point came from Mari Petroleum. Through its wholly owned subsidiary Mari Minerals, the company announced a new porphyry copper-gold discovery at the East Siah Diq (ESD-1) target in Chagai, Balochistan. Brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report that the news gave the market a significant boost in the latter half of the session, sparked renewed investor interest and helped turn sentiment positive. The discovery, Topline added, underscores the potential of Pakistan’s mineral resources and adds to growing optimism around the mining and exploration sector.

What the Mari discovery means for the market

The Mari announcement landed at the right moment. Thursday’s session had ended badly: the index briefly crossed 180,000 in the morning, then reversed as renewed selling after midday wiped out the gains, with investors cautious over domestic political uncertainty. Friday opened on the back foot, and for much of the morning the market looked set for another weak day.

Then the Mari news changed the tone. A porphyry copper-gold discovery is the kind of find that can anchor a mine — Chagai is the same district that hosts Reko Diq, one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper-gold deposits, where production is targeted for 2028. Topline’s reading was that the discovery reminded investors how much mineral value sits under Balochistan, and the buying that followed was broad enough to lift the index more than 1,400 points from its low to its high before the late correction.

It also fits a wider story that has been building all week. The Pakistan Minerals Investment Forum in Islamabad drew the world’s biggest miners to the capital, and the prime minister told the forum that Pakistan could become the world’s sixth-largest economy earlier than 2050 on the back of its mineral wealth. A concrete discovery, announced the next day by a listed company, gave traders something tangible to buy.

A volatile session in numbers

The day’s path tells the story. From the low of 176,865.05, the index ground higher through the morning and into the afternoon, reaching 178,657.76 by 2:50pm — up 1,284 points at that point — and then 179,284.34 at the peak. The correction from the top was sharp, and the market gave back a significant part of the intra-day advance before settling at 177,873.88.

That pattern — a strong middle of the session followed by late profit-taking — has repeated all week. On Thursday it was the selling that won, dragging the index down 1,710 points. On Friday the buyers kept enough of the gains to finish in the green, recovering just under a third of Thursday’s loss in a single session.

On the contribution front, Mari Petroleum, Lucky Cement, Pakistan Petroleum, Pakistan State Oil and Fatima Fertilizer were the leading positive contributors, together adding about 722 points to the benchmark, according to Topline. The broader market was less one-sided: of the 497 companies traded, 284 closed higher, 184 lower and 29 unchanged.

Volumes eased as the week ended

Trading was a little quieter than Thursday. Volume on the all-share index fell to 1,042.81 million shares from 1,070.48 million, and the value of shares traded slipped to Rs31.00 billion from Rs31.64 billion. WorldCall Telecom dominated turnover with 303.19 million shares, followed by Kohinoor Spinning at 59.50 million and LSE Financial Services at 46.79 million.

The rupee, meanwhile, continued its marginal gain against the dollar, closing at 276.60 in the inter-bank market — up by a single paisa. It is a small move, but it came on a day when the market needed every bit of calm it could get.

The week in context

Despite two sharp down days, the KSE-100 ended the week 2.3 percent higher. Topline attributed the weekly gain mainly to a decline in international crude oil prices — good news for an oil-importing economy — and improving investor sentiment amid optimism over a possible de-escalation of geopolitical tensions following the US midterm election results.

The contrast between the two halves of the week is striking. The index touched 180,000 early on Thursday, fell 1,710 points the same day, then clawed back 500 points on Friday. Analysts had flagged support at 174,000–175,000 and an upside objective near 182,500 heading into the final session of the week — Friday’s close sits comfortably inside that range, with the 180,000 mark still the level to beat.

For investors, the Mari discovery adds a new thread to watch. If the East Siah Diq find proves up over the coming months, it will feed directly into the mining story that the government has been pitching to foreign investors all week — and it gives the market a domestic growth story that does not depend on interest rates or the rupee.

What to watch next week

Monday’s open will show whether Friday’s recovery has legs or was a one-day bounce on a single piece of news. The levels to watch are the 180,000 mark overhead — breached and lost on Thursday — and support around 174,000–175,000 below. Any follow-up detail from Mari Petroleum on the size and grade of the East Siah Diq discovery will matter more than the headline, as will the direction of international oil prices and the rupee.

The minerals angle is also worth tracking beyond the stock market. Reko Diq’s production timeline, the government’s mining framework and any new exploration announcements will decide whether this week’s excitement turns into a lasting theme or fades with the next volatile session.

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Related: KSE-100 Sheds 1,710 Points to Close at 177,374 on November 12, 2026  |  Petrol Falls to Rs332, Diesel to Rs360 on November 13, 2026  |  Pakistan Minerals Investment Forum 2026 Opens in Islamabad