KSE-100 Index closes marginally lower as all eyes on PIA sale

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a largely range-bound session on Tuesday, as cautious investor sentiments kept trading at the benchmark KSE-100 Index confined within a narrow band.

During the trading session, the KSE-100 Index showed a mixed trend, opening on a positive note and gaining early momentum. However, after midday, the market experienced a gradual decline, reflecting some profit-taking and cautious trading.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 171,073.73, marginally down by 130.44 points or 0.08%.

All eyes were set on the bidding for the 75% stake in the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Tuesday, with three consortia submitting their sealed bids for the control of the national flag carrier.

On Monday, the PSX remained under sustained pressure as the onset of the roll-over week dampened investor sentiment, resulting in a volatile yet predominantly bearish trading session. The KSE-100 Index shed 200.31 points, or 0.12%, to settle at 171,204.18 points.

Internationally, Asia shares rose alongside precious metals on Tuesday as momentum buying from investors extended ahead of the festive holidays, with an advanced reading on US GDP expected later in the day.

The fragile yen found a floor as traders stayed alert to any signs of intervention from Japanese authorities to stem the currency’s slide, which has picked up pace in the wake of a well-telegraphed Bank of Japan (BOJ) rate hike on Friday.

Despite it being a holiday-shortened week for much of the world, investors will have the chance to catch up on a slew of US economic releases in the coming days, which had been delayed by a record government shutdown last month.

Tuesday’s key data point will be on third-quarter growth figures, which are forecast to show the US economy has continued to grow strongly.

Expectations are for annualised growth to come in at 3.3%, a slight pullback from the previous quarter due in part to a sharp pullback in imports after a run-up earlier in the year ahead of the introduction of tariffs.

Still, the market mood remained buoyant ahead of the outcome, and MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.31% in early trade, while Tokyo’s Nikkei tacked on 0.1%.

S&P 500 futures were little changed while Nasdaq futures added 0.11%.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee reported marginal gain against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Tuesday. At close, the local currency settled at 280.21, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback.

Volume on the all-share index decreased to 650.14 million from 684.55 million recorded in the previous close. The value of shares declined to Rs28.26 billion from Rs30.1 billion in the previous session.

PIA Holding Company was the volume leader with 45.03 million shares, followed by K-Electric Ltd with 39.47 million shares, and P.T.C.L. with 32.27 million shares.

Shares of 481 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 151 registered an increase, 287 recorded a fall, and 43 remained unchanged.