Late-session selling trims intra-day gains but KSE-100 still closes 421 points higher

A day after massive selling, buying returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining 421 points on Tuesday.

The KSE-100 Index witnessed selling pressure in the starting hours, hitting an intra-day low of 170,248.47, followed by strong buying that pushed the index to an intra-day high of 171,856.36.

The final hours witnessed some selling that trimmed the intra-day gains.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 171,021.77, up by 421.57 points or 0.25%.

“Market confidence strengthened primarily due to the decline in international oil prices, which provided support to investor sentiment and encouraged buying activity across key sectors,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.

The positive market performance was largely driven by heavyweight stocks, including MEBL, FFC, UBL, PTC, and PPL, which collectively contributed approximately 460 points to the benchmark index, Topline said.

“Turning green despite a potential transaction tax and a freeze in US-Iran talks shows immense underlying strength,” said Behtari Capital, a digital wealth management platform that is a subsidiary of Capital Stake.

“Local funds are prioritizing corporate value accumulation and infrastructure plays over external shocks.”

On Monday, PSX started June on a bearish note as investor sentiment remained fragile amid the absence of a conclusive United States-Iran peace agreement over the weekend, triggering broad-based profit-taking and selling pressure across key sectors.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index witnessed a volatile session and closed sharply lower by 3,362.62 points, or 1.93%, to settle at 170,600.20 points.

Internationally, Asian stocks made a cautious start to trading on Tuesday as uncertainty over ‌whether the ceasefire in the Middle East conflict would hold capped the lift to sentiment from renewed optimism around AI.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fluctuated between gains and losses as trading commenced, last 0.5% lower, led by a 2% decline for ​Korean shares after an initially higher open. S&P 500 e-mini futures were down 0.3%, while in ​Japan, the Nikkei 225 slumped 0.7%.

Brent crude held steady around $95 a barrel after Lebanon announced a partial ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel on Monday, which could clear the path for renewed efforts to end the three-month war between the United States and Iran.

Oil prices, settled up more ​than 4% on Monday after reports that Tehran had halted indirect negotiations with the U.S.

Overnight, the S&P 500 ​closed 0.3% higher after ISM’s manufacturing PMI rose to 54.0 in May from 52.7 the previous month, beating expectations to reach the ‌highest ⁠level in four years, likely driven by businesses front-loading orders amid rising prices and shortages because of the war with Iran.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee appreciated against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Tuesday. At close, the local currency settled at 278.46, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback.

Volume on the all-share index decreased to 550.79 million from 589.76 million recorded in the previous close.

The value of shares declined to Rs27.44 billion from Rs31.98 billion in the previous session.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 42.98 million shares, followed by Treet Battery Ltd with 41.01 million shares, and Dewan Cement with 30.50 million shares.

Shares of 488 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 221 registered an increase, 226 recorded a fall, and 41 remained unchanged.