After some selling pressure that saw a correction of around 4% in the previous two sessions, positivity returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as the benchmark KSE-100 Index closed higher by nearly 450 points on Tuesday.
The KSE-100 started the session with strong buying, hitting an intra-day high of 79,585.34.
The index saw some profit-taking in the second half, but the bulls returned in the final hours and helped the benchmark index close in the green.
At close, the KSE-100 settled at 78,987.09, up by 447.90 points or 0.57%.
Experts attributed the shift in sentiment to market expectations of another cut in the policy rate by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in its upcoming Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, which is scheduled to meet on 29 July (Monday).
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has not yet included Pakistan on the agenda of its executive board meetings scheduled till July 31.
According to the Fund’s website, the IMF issued the schedule of the executive board meeting set to be held on July 24, 26, 29 and 31, but Pakistan’s 37-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) of about $7 billion on the agenda is not included.
On Tuesday, the market’s upward trend was propelled by sectors such as E&P, banking, and auto, buoyed by companies including HUBC, OGDC, MARI, UBL, and MTL, collectively contributing 228 points, brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.
On Monday, selling pressure persisted throughout the trading session at the PSX, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index suffering nearly a 2% loss that was triggered by rising political uncertainty in the country. The index settled at 78,539.19, a loss of 1,578.70 points.
Globally, Asian stocks bounced from one-month lows on Tuesday, with Taiwan’s market snapping a five-day losing streak as semiconductor shares took a lead from a Wall Street recovery, while sagging commodity prices weighed on the Aussie dollar.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan , which touched a one-month low on Monday, rose 0.55%.
Japan’s Nikkei steadied thanks to stabilising chip stocks and the share average gained 0.3%.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee registered a marginal decline against the US dollar, depreciating 0.04% in the inter-bank market on Tuesday. At close, the currency settled at 278.41, a loss of Re0.11 against the greenback.
Volume on the all-share index decreased to 316.24 million from 375.6 million a session ago.
The value of shares declined to Rs17.07 billion from Rs19.35 billion in the previous session.
PIA Holding Company was the volume leader with 22.08 million shares, followed by Pak Elektron with 19.79 million shares, and WorldCall Telecom with 19.51 million shares.
Shares of 433 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 225 registered an increase, 164 recorded a fall, while 44 remained unchanged.