Buying returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) in the second half of the Tuesday’s session, as the benchmark KSE-100 Index closed higher by 808 points, erasing more than 1,100-point loss it had incurred earlier during the day.
The KSE-100 started the session negative, hitting an intra-day low of 112,935.57.
However, buying returned in the latter hours, pushing the index to an intra-day high of 115,040.59.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 114,872.18, up by 808.28 points or 0.71%.
“Market sentiment improved as margin related selling eased and investors began to buy quality stocks at lower levels,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.
The recovery was mainly supported by key stocks like ENGROH, MARI, SYS, MCB, and SNGP. They contributed around 760 points to the overall index gain, showing their strong impact on market movement, Topline said.
On Monday, the benchmark index had closed the day lower by 1,405.45 points.
A rise in tensions between Pakistan and India following Pahalgam attack has kept the stock market under pressure since last week.
Globally, stocks ticked sideways on Tuesday while the dollar headed towards its largest monthly fall for years as investors braced for the trade war to be felt in earnings and economic data.
US President Donald Trump’s tariffs have rattled faith in US assets and even though numerous back downs have helped the S&P 500 recover much of its early April losses, the dollar has managed only to steady, without a big rebound.
It slipped overnight when US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC it was “up to China to de-escalate” tariffs, which sit at 125% for most US exports to China.
A holiday in Japan thinned currency trade in the Asia session, leaving most pairs steady. But at $1.1409 and up 5% in April, the euro is set for its largest monthly rise on the dollar in almost 15 years, while the dollar’s 7% drop on the safe-haven Swiss franc is the largest in a decade.
Nikkei and S&P 500 futures drifted higher, helped by officials foreshadowing a softening in automotive tariffs, though investors were holding out for more meaningful relief on the eye-watering 145% US tariffs on China.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee posted marginal gain against the US dollar, appreciating by 0.02% during trading in the inter-bank market on Tuesday. At close, the local currency settled at 281.02 against the greenback, up by Re0.05 against the previous day close.
Volume on the all-share index decreased to 409.93 million from 423.94 million recorded in the previous close.
However, the value of shares rose to Rs29.07 billion from Rs26.46 billion in the previous session.
WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 29.47 million shares, followed by Cnergyico PK with 14.82 million shares, and At-Tahur Ltd with 14.77 million shares.
Shares of 445 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 211 registered an increase, 183 recorded a fall, while 51 remained unchanged.
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