– Trading at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) began Wednesday on a positive note on the third business day of the week, with the market witnessing a strong rebound during early trading.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index surged by 2,826 points to reach 176,238 points, reflecting renewed buying interest after the previous session’s losses.

The rally comes a day after the stock market remained under pressure throughout trading, with the KSE-100 Index closing 6,408 points lower at 173,518 points at the end of Tuesday’s session.

Meanwhile, Asia’s bumpy stock markets rallied after a surprise ​slowdown in US inflation scaled back expectations for interest rate hikes, while oil took a breather as the ‌US scrapped a plan to levy shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, reports Reuters.

South Korea’s volatile KOSPI index surged 7% ahead of the next test for the AI rally with earnings due at ASML, Europe’s most valuable company and the world’s biggest supplier of equipment used to make AI chips.

Japan’s Nikkei rose 1% ​and MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 2.4%.

Still, a 25% drop in IBM’s share price overnight, ​after the technology company’s revenue forecast missed analyst expectations, showed how stretched and skittish the market’s rally ⁠in AI-related stocks has become.

Stellar profit at Wall Street banks, though, helped broader gains for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq on Tuesday ​which extended in Asia with US futures rising.

Brent crude futures steadied around $85.80 a barrel, having gained almost 13% this week on a flare-up in Middle East fighting.

– Gold prices slid ‌more than 1% on Monday as fears of a closure of the Strait of Hormuz drove oil prices sharply higher, reviving expectations of elevated interest rates to combat inflationary pressures from escalating hostilities in the Middle ​East.

Spot gold dropped 1.5% to $4,060.36 per ounce by 0541 GMT. U.S. gold futures for August ​delivery were down 1.1% at $4,068.30.

U.S. and Iranian forces have exchanged heavy missile ⁠and drone assaults, with Tehran targeting U.S. facilities in states across the Gulf on Sunday and saying ​it had again closed the vital Strait of Hormuz.

Oil prices jumped about 4%, the dollar and ​U.S. Treasury yields climbed, and share markets slipped in Asia.

“Any breakout of violence in the Gulf is accompanied by pressure on gold,” said Nicholas Frappell, global head of institutional markets at ABC Refinery.

“The question is, if the ​Strait of Hormuz remains effectively or partially closed, does that lead to a deflationary effect, ​further down the road, that might actually be supportive for gold if you have demand destruction leading to lower ‌economic ⁠activity,” Frappell added.

Kevin Warsh’s first semiannual testimony before Congress as Federal Reserve chair, along with a slate of key U.S. economic data, including June CPI, PPI and retail sales, will be closely watched this week for fresh clues on the economy, inflation and the monetary policy outlook.

Remarks from Fed ​policymakers, including Vice Chair ​Michelle Bowman and Governor ⁠Christopher Waller, later in the day are also in focus as they could provide insights on how inflationary pressures are affecting the central bank’s ​stance on interest rate hikes.

Traders are currently pricing in a 72% chance ​of a ⁠U.S. Fed interest rate hike in September, up from about 63% last week, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. FEDWATCH/ COMEX gold speculators trimmed their net long positions by 1,964 contracts to 114,854 in the ⁠week to ​July 7, data released on Friday showed, following three ​consecutive weeks of increases.

Elsewhere, spot silver declined 2.6% to $58.29 per ounce, platinum shed 1.6% to $1,601.92, and palladium fell 2% to $1,251.42

muz, one of the most important trade routes for global energy supplies.

US crude oil futures were up 4.1% at $74:33 per barrel as of 9:15 p.m. ET. Brent futures, the international benchmark, traded 3.88% higher at $78.96.

The US military launched another wave of strikes Sunday against Iran after hitting 140 targets on Saturday, according to U.S. Central Command. The strikes are in response to an attack by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on a container ship transiting Hormuz.

Iran responded Sunday with strikes on U.S. military facilities in Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman, according to the state news agency Tasnim.

Iranian state media said the Revolutionary Guard had closed the Hormuz until further notice, but the U.S. military disputed that claim. Centcom said the strait was open to “all vessels seeking to lawfully transit.”

“U.S. forces are positioned and prepared to ensure that freedom of navigation remains available despite unwarranted Iranian aggression, harassment, threats, and arbitrary declarations,” Centcom said in a social media post Sunday. “Iran does not control the strait. Traffic is flowing.”