It was another volatile trading session at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index swinging both ways before closing in the positive on Tuesday.
The session began on a volatile note, with the index dropping to an intraday low of 149,129.41 amid selling pressure.
“With the Trump-Iran deadline hours away and a massive $3.5 billion FX drain looming, the market is in wait-and-see mode,” Behatri Capital said earlier during the day.
However, sentiment gradually improved as the day progressed and the market staged a steady recovery by mid-session.
In the latter half of the session, the index maintained a consistent upward trajectory, hitting an intraday high of 152,013.05.
At close, the benchmark KSE-100 Index settled at 151,673.45, up by 465.64 points or 0.31%.
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On Monday, PSX witnessed a highly volatile session, with sharp two-way movements throughout the day before a late-session recovery as improving global sentiment and expectations of easing geopolitical tensions supported investor confidence.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index settled at 151,207.82 points, registering a gain of 809.10 points or 0.54%.
Internationally, global stocks wavered on Tuesday, while oil prices were perched near $110 per barrel as the prospect of escalation in the war in the Middle East and the looming deadline for a deal to be reached kept nervous investors on the sidelines.
Markets have been rattled since the US-Israel war on Iran broke out at the end of February, with Tehran effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, a key global oil transit chokepoint that has spurred inflation worries.
While investors have pinned their hopes on a resolution to the war, the talks so far have yielded no progress, with US President Donald Trump imposing a deadline of Tuesday, 8 p.m. Eastern Time (0000 GMT Wednesday) for a deal to be reached.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.4% higher. Japan’s Nikkei was choppy as it erased early gains to trade 0.2% lower.
US stock futures slipped 0.55%, while European futures pointed to a higher open after being closed for holidays on Friday and Monday.
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