Buying momentum was observed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining nearly 600 points during the opening hours of trading on Wednesday.
At 9:40am, the benchmark index was hovering at 149,002.59, an increase of 567.53 points or 0.38%.
Buying interest was observed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and refinery. Index-heavy stocks including ARL, OGDC, POL, SSGC, SNGPL, WAFI, MCB, MEBL, NBP and UBL, traded in the green.
On Tuesday, PSX closed the session on a negative note, with key indices retreating amid significant intraday volatility. The KSE-100 Index settled at 148,435.06 points, down 380.24 points or 0.26%.
Internationally, Asian stocks were steady on Wednesday ahead of an earnings report from AI leader Nvidia that will shape near-term risk sentiment, while the US dollar was frail as investors remained nervous about attacks on Federal Reserve autonomy.
The US Treasury yield curve has been steepening since President Donald Trump on Monday ordered the firing of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, an unprecedented move that could lead to a legal tussle after a lawyer for Cook said she will file a lawsuit to prevent it.
Trump has repeatedly criticised Powell and policymakers for not cutting interest rates. Market watchers interpreted Powell’s comments last week as indicating cuts could be on the way.
That has led to investors wagering a cut next month, with traders pricing in an 84% chance of the Fed moving in September and expecting more than 100 bps of easing by June.
Data showed options traders are pricing in about a $260 billion swing in Nvidia’s market value after the firm reports earnings, where its business in China will be in focus following an unusual profit-sharing deal with the Trump administration.
Caught in the crossfire of a Sino-US trade war, the fate of Nvidia’s China business hangs on where the world’s two largest economies land on tariff talks and chip trade curbs.
That has left traders hesitant in placing major bets. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan up just 0.2%, Japan’s Nikkei was little changed, and share prices in Taiwan were up 0.6%.
China’s blue-chip stocks gained 0.3%, hovering near a three-year high touched earlier in the week. Stocks in China have been on a tear recently, buoyed by tech sector.
This is an intra-day update
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