KARACHI:
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) carried its upward momentum into Tuesday’s session, with sentiment remaining upbeat despite the State Bank of Pakistan’s decision to raise the policy rate by 50 basis points to 12%, as hopes of progress towards resolving the United States-Israeli war on Iran offered some relief to investors.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index opened on a firm note, jumping 875.75 points, or 0.54%, to 163,914.21 within the opening minutes at 9:34am. As the session progressed, the upward momentum continued, with the index climbing to 164,068.67 by 12.54pm, up 1,030.21 points or 0.63%.
During the session, the benchmak KSE-100 Index touched an intraday high of 164,368.47 and a low of 163,545.69. Meanwhile, traded volume reached 63.83 million shares, with turnover at Rs4.96 billion.
Read: PSX recovers from policy rate-driven sell-off
The positive sentiment was also reflected in buying interest across cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies and oil marketing companies, which supported the market’s advance.
Meanwhile, international oil prices edged lower, falling about 1% as hopes of a resolution to the US-Israeli war on Iran eased immediate supply concerns. Brent crude fell 0.86% to $114.81 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate declined 0.86% to $100.88. However, renewed Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia kept geopolitical risks in focus.
