The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed another volatile session on Tuesday as its benchmark KSE-100 Index fluctuated throughout the day before closing lower by 202 points.
The market kicked off trading on a positive note, with the KSE-100 hitting an intra-day high of 116,843.41.
However, selling pressure soon emerged, dragging the index to an intra-day low of 113,677.50.
Late buying trimmed losses and the benchmark index finally settled at 116,052.68, a decrease of 202.44 points or 0.17%.
“Despite the initial drop, the market rebounded. A statement from the prime minister, indicating that the government is considering reducing electricity rates, played a role in the recovery of share prices,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.
The decline in the index was primarily driven by EFERT, FFC, HBL, ATRL, and PSO, which together contributed to a loss of 433 points. On the other hand, ENGROH, OGDC, and TRG helped offset the losses, adding 436 points to the index, it added.
Experts attributed the early decline to the deteriorating law and order situation in Balochistan and the considerable increase in PSO’s receivables, which weighed on overall market sentiment, particularly in the oil and gas sector.
On Monday, PSX witnessed a volatile session as its benchmark KSE-100 Index swayed both ways on bouts of buying and selling before closing the day lower by 1,332 points at 116,255.13.
Internationally, Asia shares rose on Tuesday, tracking Wall Street’s positive lead and as some investors hoped incoming US President-elect Donald Trump could adopt a less aggressive tariff stance than promised when he takes office.
The Washington Post reported on Monday that Trump aides were exploring tariff plans that would be applied to every country but only cover certain sectors deemed critical to national or economic security. This would have represented a marked shift from Trump’s promises during the 2024 presidential campaign.
While the news initially sent stocks rallying and the dollar falling, Trump’s subsequent denial on his Truth Social platform reversed some of the US currency’s declines.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan, was up 0.16% in the early Asian session, while Japan’s Nikkei, jumped 2%, boosted by a rally in technology stocks.
Minutes of the Fed’s last meeting due on Wednesday will offer colour on their dot plot predictions, while there will be plenty of live comments with several top policymakers speaking.
The prospect of a less aggressive Fed easing cycle this year has in turn kept U.S. Treasury yields supported, with the benchmark 10-year yield last at 4.6219%, after rising to its highest since May in the previous session.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee recorded a marginal decline against the US dollar, depreciating 0.02% in the inter-bank market on Tuesday. At close, the currency settled at 278.67 for a loss of Re0.05 against the greenback.
Volume on the all-share index decreased to 792.77 million from 819.80 million on Monday.
However, the value of shares increased to Rs39.69 billion from Rs38.33 billion in the previous session.
WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 80.58 million shares, followed by Cnergyico PK with 76.60 million shares, and K-Electric Ltd with 45.71 million shares.
Shares of 453 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 133 registered an increase, 275 recorded a fall, while 45 remained unchanged.
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