The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Index closed marginally higher on Tuesday after selling in the second half erased most of the gains the index had made earlier during the day.
The KSE-100 started the session positive, hitting an intra-day high of 115,889.60, a gain of more than 1,500 points as compared to the previous close.
However, the latter hours witnessed selling pressure that pushed the index to an intra-day low of 114,178.56.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 114,528.09, up by 197.98 points or 0.17%.
The rise was largely driven by BAHL, MCB, OGDC, MLCF, and MARI, which together contributed 296 points to the overall gain. In contrast, FFC, HUBC, and TRG contributed a loss of 146 points to the index, Topline Securities said in its post-market report.
In a key development, a technical mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday began crucial talks regarding Pakistan’s request for around $1.5 billion in additional financing to combat climate change.
The discussions come as part of the IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) arrangements, which provide long-term financing for climate resilience projects.
On Monday, the PSX benchmark KSE-100 Index closed the week’s first session positive, as the exploration and production (E&P) sector helped the index erase intra-day losses to settle at 114,330.10, up by 1,529.17 points or 1.36%.
Internationally, Asian shares slid on Tuesday amid worries about U.S. investment curbs on China, while a run-up in the euro faded as investors wait for Germany to sort out the formation of its new government with no major surprises.
Gold hit a record high on tariff concerns. Investors are also cautious ahead of results from AI darling Nvidia, where options point to a share price move of about 8% in either direction should they surprise.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 1.3%. Japan’s Nikkei returned from a public holiday with a drop of 0.9%, but shares of its five major trading houses surged thanks to interest from billionaire investor Warren Buffett.
Bank of Korea on Tuesday cut its interest rates by a quarter-point as expected, helping South Korean shares trimming some losses.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index tumbled 2.3%, extending the fall from Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an order to restrict Chinese investments in strategic areas such as chips, AI and aerospace. Chinese blue chips dropped 0.9%.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee remained largely unchanged against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Tuesday. At close, the rupee settled at 279.67, a loss of Re0.01 against the greenback.
Volume on the all-share index increased to 495.98 million from 455.53 million recorded in the previous close.
The value of shares rose to Rs29.36 billion from Rs25.89 billion in the previous session.
Fauji Cement was the volume leader with 61.09 million shares, followed by Maple Leaf with 33.82 million shares, and At-Tahur Ltd with 23.91 million shares.
Shares of 444 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 169 registered an increase, 223 recorded a fall, while 52 remained unchanged.
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