Buying spree persists at Pakistan Stock Exchange
Buying momentum held its grounds at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining over 2,400 points during the opening hours of trading on Tuesday, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
At 11:00 am, the PSX’s benchmark KSE-100 index was hovering at 179,797.52 points, an increase of 2757.70 points or 1.53%. At the close of business for the day, the index surged by 3,353.15 points or 1.86 percent or 180,392.97 points.
Buying was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, chemical, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, and refineries.
Index-heavy stocks, including OGDC, PPL, POL, MARI, ARL, PSO, HBL, MCB, and MEBL, traded in the green.
Earlier on Monday, the Pakistan Stock Exchange witnessed a historic bullish session as investors aggressively responded to the federal government’s budget measures alongside reports of a preliminary peace understanding between the United States and Iran, which significantly eased global oil supply disruption fears and strengthened broad-based risk appetite across the market.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index staged a powerful rally of 4,639.93 points, or 2.69%, to close at 177,039.83 points.
Globally, Asian stocks retreated on Tuesday as investors turned their focus to central bank decisions, including an expected rate hike from the Bank of Japan, after a rally in the previous session on news of a U.S.-Iran peace deal.
Markets settled into a more measured tone on Gulf developments as the initial excitement over the preliminary agreement between Washington and Tehran began to fade.
Oil prices, which settled at a three-month low overnight, reflected the cautious stance, with Brent crude futures up 0.1% at $83.25 a barrel. Shippers in Asia and Europe said rebuilding confidence in resuming transit through the Strait of Hormuz could take weeks.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan erased gains to trade flat after an initial rally, with stocks in Hong Kong weighing on the benchmark after weaker-than-expected retail sales and fixed-asset investment data from China.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.3%, retreating from a record high as S&P 500 e-mini futures slipped 0.1%.
While U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of a deal with Iran drew initial investor relief on Monday, it also puts Washington on a collision course with Israel.
Reporter Baseem Iftikhar