Stocks surge, KSE-100 up nearly 3,300 points
- Benchmark index was hovering at 180,320.11
The Pakistan Stock Exchange's KSE-100 Index continued its bullish trend, gaining over 1,300 points on Tuesday, driven by buying in key sectors and following Monday's historic rally.
- Monday's historic PSX rally and its drivers.
- Global market response to the US-Iran peace deal.
- Key sectors and stocks contributing to PSX gains.
Buying momentum continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining nearly 3,300 points during the opening minutes of trading on Tuesday.
At 12:15pm, the benchmark index was hovering at 180,320.11, an increase of 3,280.29 points or 1.85%.
Buying was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, chemical, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and refinery. Index-heavy stocks, including OGDC, PPL, POL, MARI, ARL, PSO, HBL, MCB and MEBL, traded in the green.
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 benchmark 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, which settled at a three-month low overnight, reflected the cautious stance, with Brent crude futures up 0.1% at $83.25 a barrel. Shippers in Asia and Europe said rebuilding confidence in resuming transit through the Strait of Hormuz could take weeks.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan erased gains to trade flat after an initial rally, with stocks in Hong Kong weighing on the benchmark after weaker-than-expected retail sales and fixed-asset investment data from China. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.3%, retreating from a record high as S&P 500 e-mini futures slipped 0.1%.
While U.S. 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.
This is an intraday update