The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued its positive momentum on Tuesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining nearly 1,500 points during the opening hours of trading.
At 10:15 am, the KSE-100 Index stood upwards of 115,800 points marking an increase of over 1.2%. The rally was led by widespread buying across key sectors including cement, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, and refineries. Index-heavy stocks such as NRL, PRL, PSO, SHEL, SNGPL, MARI, OGDC, POL, and PPL were trading in the green.
However, as they day progressed, selling momentum caught up with the market. At the closing bell, the KSE-100 index stood at 114,528.08 points, showing a gain of just under 200 points or 0.17% compared to the previous close.
A key development that might be impacting market sentiment in the morning was the commencement of crucial talks between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) regarding Pakistan’s request for an additional USD 1.5 billion in financing to combat climate change. These discussions are part of the IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) arrangements, aimed at financing long-term climate resilience projects.
In the broader market, the All-Share Index closed at 70,985.54 with a net gain of 127.37 points or 0.18%. Total market volume was 495.98 million shares compared to 455.53m from the previous session while traded value was recorded at Rs29.36 billion showing an increase of Rs 3.47bn.
There were 269,935 trades reported in 444 companies with 169 closing up, 223 closing down, and 52 remaining unchanged.
On Monday, the PSX had ended the first session of the week on a positive note, with the KSE-100 Index climbing 1,529.17 points or 1.36% to close at 114,330.10. This was attributed to a recovery in the exploration and production (E&P) sector, which helped erase earlier losses.
