Buying interest returns, KSE-100 gains over 1%
- Benchmark index settles at 175,285.783
The Pakistan Stock Exchange rebounded sharply, gaining nearly 2,700 points, after a previous steep decline driven by geopolitical tensions. Buying interest returned amid positive international market cues.
- Pakistan Stock Exchange's sharp rebound.
- Geopolitical tensions and market volatility.
- International market factors influencing local stocks.
- Key sectors driving the PSX recovery.
A day after suffering one of its worst trading sessions, buying interest returned at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining over 1% on Wednesday.
The index opened on a strong note and quickly surged to an intraday high of 176,701.38, driven by aggressive buying. However, profit-taking soon emerged, erasing a significant portion of the early gains and dragging the benchmark to an intraday low of 173,870.27 around midday.
The market subsequently regained stability, with buying interest returning during the afternoon session. The index gradually recouped losses and remained firmly in positive territory heading into the close.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 175,285.78, up by 1,766.97 points or 1.02%.
On Tuesday, the PSX witnessed one of its worst trading sessions as escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East sparked panic selling, amid growing concerns over the conflict between the United States and Iran and its potential impact on global oil supplies.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index plunged 6,408.23 points, or 3.56%, to close at 173,518.82 points.
Internationally, Asian markets were higher on Wednesday after a surprise slowdown in U.S. inflation scaled back market expectations for interest rate hikes, while oil took a breather as the US scrapped a plan to levy shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Stellar earnings at Wall Street banks also had investors cheering, though a 25% drop in IBM’s share price, after the technology company’s revenue forecast missed analyst expectations, showed how stretched and skittish the market’s rally in AI-related stocks has become.
South Korea’s chipmaker-heavy KOSPI surged 6% in early trade and Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.4%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.7%.
In currencies, the US dollar dropped except against the stubbornly weak yen. Meanwhile, short-end bonds rallied, taking two-year Treasury yields down 11 basis points to 4.19% from Tuesday’s 17-month high of nearly 4.3%.
The US headline consumer price index fell 0.4% in June, its first decline since the COVID-19 pandemic, while annualised core inflation of 2.6% compared with expectations for 2.8%.
This is an intraday update
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