The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw a positive session on Tuesday and the KSE-100 Index rose 0.5% as investors remained optimistic of a staff-level agreement between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the disbursement of the next tranche.

At close, the KSE-100 Index settled at 40,448.05, an increase of 201.38 points or 0.5%.

Trading began positively but selling pressure gripped the market and it fell until noon. From midday onward, renewed buying activity emerged and the market closed with a gain.

PSX ends another session flat as KSE-100 ‘remains mostly directionless’

Automobile, oil and banking sectors closed in the green while cement space remained mixed.

A report from Arif Habib Limited stated that a positive session was recorded at the PSX.

“The market opened in the green and continued to trade in the same zone, with the index reaching an intraday high of 237.62 points, as investors remained hopeful for the release of the extended tranche of the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility,” it said. “Investor activity increased marginally while volumes across the board increased slightly, with 3rd tier companies topping the volume board.”

A report from Capital Stake stated that bulls took charge of the PSX on Tuesday. Indices swayed in both directions, while volumes shrunk from last close, it said.

Sectors painting the benchmark KSE-100 Index in green included fertiliser (86.97 points), banking (69.69 points) and power generation and distribution (22.45 points).

Volume on the all-share index fell to 67.5 million from 94.8 million on Monday while the value of shares traded dropped to Rs2.28 billion from Rs3.05 billion recorded in the previous session.

K-Electric was the volume leader with 3.5 million shares followed by WorldCall Telecom with 3.3 million shares and Hascol with 2.8 million shares.

Shares of 306 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 156 registered an increase, 130 recorded a fall and 20 remained unchanged.