Bullish momentum prevailed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark index gaining nearly 700 points during the intra-day trading on Tuesday.
At 12:15pm, the benchmark index hovered at 116,868.19, an increase of 668.60 points or 0.58%.
Buying was observed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refineries. Index-heavy stocks including HUBCO, NRL, PRL, PSO, SNGPL, OGDC, POL, PPL, MCB, MEBL and UBL traded in the green.
In a key development, Business Recorder reported that the delay in reaching a staff-level agreement under the IMF ongoing Extended Fund Facility (EFF) may be due to the prevailing trust deficit, said officials.
Moreover, Pakistan’s current account (C/A) posted a deficit of $12 million in February 2025, against a surplus of $71 million recorded in the same month the previous year, data released on Monday by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed.
On a month-on-month (MoM) basis, the C/A posted a recovery from a deficit of $399 million (revised) in January 2025.
On Monday, buying rally continued at the PSX, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index closing the day above 116,000 amid a gain of 663 points.
Internationally, Hong Kong shares rose to three-year highs and led Asian markets higher on Tuesday, as investors turn positive on the outlook for the world’s second-biggest economy and cheered recent data and promises to further support consumption.
The Hang Seng was up 2% in morning trade and its 23% year-to-date gain is easily the largest of any major market.
Short sellers rushed to cover bets against the New Zealand dollar, which is sensitive to China’s consumer via food exports, sending it to a three-month high of $0.5827.
The China-sensitive Australian dollar hit a one-month high just shy of $0.64 and China’s yuan hovered near its strongest levels of the year so far.
On Monday the OECD forecast US President Donald Trump’s higher tariffs will drag down growth in Canada, Mexico and the US while driving up inflation.
Yet China has been an unlikely winner of Trump’s burst of tariffs and cuts to government spending in his first two months in office, as fears of a US slowdown turn investors abroad.
This is an intra-day update
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