KSE-100 Index adds 466 points after volatile session

It was another volatile trading session at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index swinging both ways before closing in the green on Tuesday.

The session began on a volatile note, with the index dropping to an intra-day low of 149,129.41 amid selling pressure.

“With the Trump-Iran deadline hours away and a massive $3.5 billion FX drain looming, the market is in wait-and-see mode,” Behatri Capital said earlier during the day.

However, sentiment gradually improved as the day progressed and the market staged a steady recovery by mid-session.

In the latter half of the session, the index maintained a consistent upward trajectory, hitting an intra-day high of 152,013.05.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 Index settled at 151,673.45, up by 465.64 points or 0.31%.

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Topline Securities said sentiment turned positive in the latter half after encouraging tweet from the Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan regarding progress in ceasefire talks, triggering selective buying and helping the index close in the green.

On the index front, key gainers including UBL, FFC, HBL, BAHL, and LUCK collectively added 387 points to the index., it said.

On Monday, PSX witnessed a highly volatile session, with sharp two-way movements throughout the day before a late-session recovery as improving global sentiment and expectations of easing geopolitical tensions supported investor confidence. The KSE-100 Index settled at 151,207.82 points, registering a gain of 809.10 points or 0.54%.

Internationally, global stocks wavered on Tuesday, while oil prices were perched near $110 per barrel as the prospect of ​escalation in the war in the Middle East and the looming deadline for a deal to be reached kept nervous investors ‌on the sidelines.

Markets have been rattled since the US-Israel war on Iran broke out at the end of February, with Tehran effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, a key global oil transit chokepoint that has spurred inflation worries.

While investors have pinned their hopes on a resolution to the war, the talks so far have yielded no progress, with US ​President Donald Trump imposing a deadline of Tuesday, 8 p.m. Eastern Time (0000 GMT Wednesday) for a deal to be reached.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.4% higher. Japan’s Nikkei was choppy as it ​erased early gains to trade 0.2% lower.

US stock futures slipped 0.55%, while European futures pointed to a higher open after being closed for holidays on Friday and Monday.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee registered marginal gain against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Tuesday. At close, the local currency settled at 279.06, a gain of Re0.01, against the greenback.

Volume on the all-share index decreased to 357.27 million from 457.21 million recorded in the previous close.

The value of shares declined to Rs20.44 billion from Rs30.88 billion in the previous session.

K-Electric Ltd was the volume leader with 53.60 million shares, followed by Trust Brokerage with 26.37 million shares, and Cnergyico PK with 16.67 million shares.

Shares of 477 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 223 registered an increase, 188 recorded a fall, and 66 remained unchanged.