KARACHI: After taking a thrashing in the previous session, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) managed to recover some of its losses on Tuesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining over 600 points.
Global oil prices saw a recovery of around 4pc after falling around 30pc on Monday. It also helped the Asian markets take a breather after a tragic first session of the week.
On the economic front, the State Bank of Pakistan (PSX) is expected to announce its monetary policy on March 17th. Pakistan’s current interest rate at 13.25pc is among the top 20 highest rates in the world. Argentina currently has the highest rate of 38pc, followed by Zimbabwe with 35pc. Three countries; Japan, Denmark and Switzerland, discourage savings by implementing a negative interest rate.
Losing 145.26 points, the KSE-100 Index touched its intraday low at 36,913.69 during the initial trading hours. However, refusing to stay down, the index then rebounded and gained 675.80 points to mark its intraday high at 37,734.75. It finally closed higher by 636.80 points at 37,695.75.
Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index gained 448.91 points to settle at 58,741.45, while the KSE All Share Index accumulated 309.07 points, ending at 26,184.13.
The overall trading volumes declined from 307.96 million in the previous session to 274.48 million. Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited (MLCF +2.54pc), Pak Petroleum Limited (PPL -5.58pc) and Fauji Cement Company Limited (FCCL -1.44pc) topped the volume chart, exchanging 27.88 million, 23.62 million and 16.09 million shares, respectively.
Sectors that added positivity to the benchmark KSE-100 Index included banking (+353.01 points), fertilizer (+112.27 points) and oil & gas marketing (+93.34 points). Among the companies, Habib Bank Limited (HBL +100.55 points), Bank AL Habib Limited (BAHL +64.49 points) and MCB Bank Limited (MCB +59.86 points) added maximum points to the index.
The oil & gas marketing sector (+5.66pc) turned out to be the top gainer of the session, with Attock Petroleum Limited (APL +6.85pc), Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL +5.56pc) and Hascol Petroleum Limited (HASCOL +1.69pc) closing with decent gains.
