Positive momentum returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining nearly 500 points during the opening minutes of trading on Tuesday.
At 9:35am, the benchmark index was hovering at 162,464.85, a gain of 480.77 points or 0.30%.
Buying interest was observed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refinery. Index-heavy stocks ARL, OGDC, POL, PPL, PSO, SNGPL, SSGC, MCB, MEBL and UBL traded in the green.
On Monday, Pakistan equities closed lower with the benchmark KSE-100 Index slipping in a subdued session marked by muted volatility, reduced investor participation, and caution at the start of the roll-over week.
The KSE-100 ended at 161,984.09 points, down 118.84 points or 0.07%.
Globally, Asian share markets rallied on Tuesday as hopes grew that the Federal Reserve would deliver a December interest rate cut, while investors piled into global technology stocks, shrugging off concerns the sector was becoming overheated.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1% led mainly by tech stocks, recouping some of the losses from last week when it fell 4%.
The index is on course for a 3.8% drop in the month, its first monthly decline since March.
Japan’s Nikkei was up 0.8% in early trading on Tuesday after returning from a holiday on Monday. The index slid 3.5% last week as a bout of risk-off sentiment gripped markets.
The prospect of a US rate cut is rising after Fed Governor Christopher Waller said available data indicated that the US job market remains weak enough to warrant another quarter-point cut to interest rates.
Markets are pricing in an 85.1% chance of a cut of 25 basis points at the December meeting, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool, up from 42.4% a week ago. The US central bank will meet on December 9 and 10.
This is an intra-day update
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