The share prices at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) staged a strong recovery on Tuesday, climbing more than six percent in just first hour as investors were buoyed over US President Donald Trump’s statement that the Middle East war may soon wind down, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
At 9.50 am, the trading at the Pakistan Stock Exchange was suspended as the benchmark KSE-100 index soared to 155,783.89 points after rising by 9,303.75 points or 6.35%. After resumption of trading, the index further added a couple of thousand points but at the close of day's business the PSX's benchmark KSE-100 index stood at 156,177.12 points, surged by 9,696.98 points or 6.21 percent.
As many as 567 companies transacted their shares in the stock market with 380 of them recording gains while 43 sustained losses, whereas share prices of 136 companies remained unchanged.
Buying momentum was seen across major sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, oil marketing firms, and power producers.
Index-heavy shares such as Attock Refinery Limited, Hub Power Company Limited, Mari Energies Limited, Oil and Gas Development Company Limited, Pakistan Oilfields Limited, Pakistan Petroleum Limited, Habib Bank Limited, National Bank of Pakistan and United Bank Limited all traded higher.
Experts opined that the market was rebounding due to lower oil prices and improved sentiment in regional markets.
Earlier on Monday, the PSX opened on a negative note as it dipped nearly 10,000 points, forcing suspension of the trading activity.
The KSE-100 index plunged by 9,780.15 points to drop to 147,715.95 points, registering a negative change of 6.21 percent.
The war in the Middle East has entered the 11th day with the US-Israel pounding Iran and Lebanon with missiles and airstrikes while Tehran continues to hit Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities with counterstrikes.
A total of 363,145,903 shares were traded during the day as compared to 723,879,788 shares the previous trading day, whereas the price of shares stood at Rs 23.108 billion against Rs 35.179 billion on the last trading day.
Reporter Kavish Memon