Buying rally continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index surging over 1,700 points during the opening hours of trading on Tuesday.
At 11:35am, the benchmark index was hovering at 113,099.87 level, an increase of 1,721.91 points or 1.55%.
Buying was observed in key sectors including cement, chemical, commercial banks, fertilizer, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, refinery and power generation. Index-heavy stocks including HUBCO, PSO, SHEL, OGDC, POL, PPL, EFERT, HBL, NBP and UBL.
In a key development, the inflow of overseas workers’ remittances into Pakistan stood at $3 billion in January 2025, 3.2% down from $3.1 billion in December 2024, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) latest data released on Monday.
During Jul-Jan FY25, workers’ remittances recorded an inflow of $20.8 billion, compared to $15.8 billion during Jul-Jan FY24, depicting a growth of 31.7%.
On Monday, bullish momentum was observed at the bourse, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index closing with a gain of over 1,000 points to settle at 111,377.96.
Globally, gold hit a record high, the US dollar was firm and Hong Kong shares advanced to a four-month peak on Tuesday as investors navigated shifts in US trade policy and waited to hear from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on tariffs and inflation.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has rallied more than 12% in a month as Donald Trump’s administration has threatened, then suspended, blanket tariffs on Canada and Mexico – seemingly confirming investor assumptions that everything is negotiable.
Trump on Monday lifted tariffs on steel and aluminium imports to 25%, pushing up share prices of U.S. steelmakers.
A tariff of 10% on Chinese imports took effect earlier in the month and retaliatory Chinese duties on U.S. energy and some goods came into effect on Monday.
There has been little sign of progress toward a trade arrangement between Beijing and Washington, but expectations for a breakthrough remain high.
Markets are largely expecting the Fed to hold rates steady at its March meeting, with expectations for a cut of at least 25 basis points not climbing above 50% until June, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool, opens new tab.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields closed at 4.495% and were untraded in the Asia session owing to a public holiday in Japan.
This is an intra-day update
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