The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) maintained its merry run on account of improved economic indicators, as the benchmark KSE-100 Index gained over 650 points during trading on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, the benchmark index hit an intra-day high of 86,846.03.
By around 2:45pm, it was trading slightly lower but still maintaining strong momentum, hovering at 86,718.73 points, up by 661.22 points or 0.77%.
Across-the-board buying was witnessed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, chemical, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and refinery. Index-heavy stocks including OGDC, PPL, SSGC, HBL and MEBL traded in the green.
Market experts have been attributing the positive sentiment to improved indicators, including a current account surplus for September and a reduction in political uncertainty after approval of the 26th Constitutional Amendment Bill by the parliament.
“The momentum comes on the back of political clarity,” Sana Tawfik, Head of Research at Arif Habib Limited (AHL), told media.
The corporate results are also in line with market expectations, Tawfik said.
“We expect CPI reading to clock in at 6.3% in October, whereas the market expects inflation reading in the range of 6.3-6.5%. This has strengthened calls for a more pronounced policy rate cut.”
On Monday, PSX witnessed a bullish trend and closed on a strong positive note with healthy gains. The benchmark KSE-100 Index surged by 807.42 points or 0.95% and crossed the 86,000 psychological level to close at 86,057.52 points.
Globally, Asian stocks turned lower and the dollar stood by multi-month peaks on Tuesday as a sharp sell-off in bonds and a jump in gold suggested investors are hunkering down ahead of the US election.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields rose 11 basis points overnight and a further 1 bp in early Asia trade to 4.19%.
Gold hit a record high just above $2,740 an ounce on Monday and traded at $2,725 early on Tuesday.
Japan’s Nikkei slid 1.1% in morning trade to hit its lowest since early October. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.8%. Wall Street gauges edged down overnight and futures inched lower in Asia.
This is an intra-day update
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