Buying spree returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as investors rejoiced after US President Donald Trump said Iran and Israel had agreed to a ceasefire, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining over 6,500 points, just seconds after market halt ended, during the intra-day trading on Tuesday.
Bullish momentum persisted throughout the trading session, pushing the KSE-100 Index to an intra-day high of 122,725.21.
At 2:10pm, the benchmark index was hovering at 121,809.78 level, an increase of 5,642.31 points or 4.86%.
Earlier, following a 5% gain, trading activity at PSX halted for 1 hour, and the market opened at 12:31pm.
“All TRE Certificate Holders are hereby informed that due to a 5% increase in the KSE-30 index from the previous trading day’s close of the index, a Market Halt has been triggered as per PSX Regulations,” read the notice.
Across-the-board buying was observed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refinery. Index-heavy stocks including HUBCO, ARL, SSGC, PSO, MARI, OGDC, PPL, POL, UBL and HBL traded in the green.
“The ceasefire announcement and a 3-4% drop in international oil prices are driving the buying rally at the bourse,” Sana Tawfik, Head of Research at Arif Habib Limited (AHL), told media.
“The market believes the geopolitical situation will now come under control,” she added.
Waqas Ghani, Head of Research at JS Global, echoed similar sentiments.
“Market participants responded positively to Trump’s ceasefire announcement aimed at easing Middle East tensions and a decrease in global oil prices.
Widespread buying activity was witnessed across all sectors, driving a strong rally,“ he said.
Intense selling pressure gripped the PSX on Monday amid escalating geopolitical tensions following a US attack on Iran, with the benchmark KSE-100 settling with a loss of nearly 3,900 points.
At close, the KSE-100 Index settled at 116,167.47 level, a decrease of 3,855.77 points or 3.21%.
Internationally, global shares rallied and the dollar extended declines on Tuesday after US President Donald Trump said Iran and Israel had agreed to a ceasefire, sending oil prices into a deep dive as concerns over supply disruptions ebbed.
While an Iranian official earlier confirmed that Tehran had agreed to a ceasefire, the country’s foreign minister said there would be no cessation of hostilities unless Israel stopped its attacks.
Oil prices fell over 3%, having already slid 9% on Monday when Iran made a token retaliation against a US base, which came to nothing and signalled it was done for now.
With the immediate threat to the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane seemingly over, U.S. crude futures fell another 3.4% to $66.15 per barrel, the lowest since June 11.
Risk assets rallied, with S&P 500 futures up 0.6% and Nasdaq futures 0.9% higher.
EUROSTOXX 50 futures jumped 1.3% and FTSE futures rose 0.4%.
The MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan jumped 1.8% while Japan’s Nikkei rallied 1.4%.
This is an intra-day update
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