The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed another volatile session on Tuesday as its benchmark KSE-100 Index fluctuated throughout the day before closing lower by 202 points.
The market kicked off trading on a positive note, with the KSE-100 hitting an intra-day high of 116,843.41.
However, selling pressure soon emerged, dragging the index to an intra-day low of 113,677.50.
Late buying trimmed losses and the benchmark index finally settled at 116,052.68, a decrease of 202.44 points or 0.17%.
Selling pressure was witnessed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, chemical, commercial banks, fertilizer, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, and refinery. Index-heavy stocks, including NRL, ATRL, PSO, SSGC, MARI, POL, PPL, HBL, NBP and UBL traded in the red.
Experts attributed the decline to the deteriorating law and order situation in Balochistan and the considerable increase in PSO’s receivables, which weighed on overall market sentiment, particularly in the oil and gas sector.
On Monday, PSX witnessed a volatile session as its benchmark KSE-100 Index swayed both ways on bouts of buying and selling before closing the day lower by 1,332 points at 116,255.13.
Internationally, Asia shares rose on Tuesday, tracking Wall Street’s positive lead and as some investors hoped incoming US President-elect Donald Trump could adopt a less aggressive tariff stance than promised when he takes office.
The Washington Post reported on Monday that Trump aides were exploring tariff plans that would be applied to every country but only cover certain sectors deemed critical to national or economic security. This would have represented a marked shift from Trump’s promises during the 2024 presidential campaign.
While the news initially sent stocks rallying and the dollar falling, Trump’s subsequent denial on his Truth Social platform reversed some of the US currency’s declines.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan, was up 0.16% in the early Asian session, while Japan’s Nikkei, jumped 2%, boosted by a rally in technology stocks.
Minutes of the Fed’s last meeting due on Wednesday will offer colour on their dot plot predictions, while there will be plenty of live comments with several top policymakers speaking.
The prospect of a less aggressive Fed easing cycle this year has in turn kept U.S. Treasury yields supported, with the benchmark 10-year yield last at 4.6219%, after rising to its highest since May in the previous session.
Source: Brecorder
