Stocks surge, KSE-100 gains over 3,300 points

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a strong bullish session on Tuesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining over 3,300 points or 1.89%.

Investor sentiment remained positive throughout the trading day, as the index recovered sharply from an early dip and maintained its upward trajectory for most of the session.

The market opened on a volatile note, briefly falling to an intra-day low of 177,741.46 points, before aggressive buying emerged across key sectors. The benchmark then staged a robust recovery, crossing the 180,000-point level and touching an intra-day high of 180,503.55 points.

The index traded largely in positive territory during the latter half of the session, reflecting strong investor confidence and broad-based participation.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 180,392.97, up by 3,353.15 points or 1.89%.

“The local bourse witnessed a bullish trading session today, with bulls firmly dominating the market throughout the day as improving global cues fueled aggressive buying across key sectors,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.

“The bullish momentum was largely driven by easing international crude oil prices, which significantly improved investor sentiment. Adding further optimism to the market was the growing anticipation surrounding the MoU signing ceremony of a peace agreement between Iran and the USA, reportedly scheduled for Friday, which boosted hopes of reduced geopolitical tensions in the region and enhanced risk appetite among investors.”

On the index contribution front, index heavyweights UBL, ENGROH, BAHL, NBP, and PPL emerged as the primary drivers of upside momentum, collectively contributing 1,663 points to the benchmark’s gain, Topline said.

On Monday, the PSX witnessed a historic bullish session as investors aggressively responded to the federal government’s budget measures alongside reports of a preliminary peace understanding between the United States and Iran, which significantly eased global oil supply disruption fears and strengthened broad-based risk appetite across the market. The KSE-100 Index staged a powerful rally of 4,639.93 points, or 2.69%, to close at 177,039.83 points.

Globally, Asian stocks retreated on Tuesday as ​investors turned their focus to central bank decisions, including an expected rate hike from the Bank of Japan, ‌after a rally in the previous session on news of a U.S.-Iran peace deal.

Markets settled into a more measured tone on Gulf developments as the initial excitement over the preliminary agreement between Washington and Tehran began to fade.

Oil prices fell about 4% on Tuesday to ​fresh three-month lows as markets weighed prospects for a resumption of supplies through the Strait of Hormuz alongside weaker ‌physical demand and scant details on a preliminary deal to end the Iran war.

Brent crude futures were down $3.20, or 3.85%, at $79.97 a barrel at 1253 GMT. They earlier touched $79.61, the lowest since March 3, and the first time they have fallen below $80 since that day.

While US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a deal with Iran drew initial investor relief on Monday, it also puts Washington on a collision course with Israel.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee posted marginal gain against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Tuesday. At close, the local currency settled at 278.30, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback.

Volume on the all-share index rose to 1,224.40 million from 988.08 million recorded in the previous close.

The value of shares increased to Rs70.22 billion from Rs63.48 billion in the previous session.

Lotte Chemical was the volume leader with 108.12 million shares, followed by Pak Int.Bulk with 49.52 million shares, and Siddiqsons Tin with 43.73 million shares.

Shares of 497 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 304 registered an increase, 165 recorded a fall, and 28 remained unchanged.