Buying spree showed no signs of slowing down at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as the benchmark KSE-100 Index settled at a new record high during intra-day trading on Tuesday.
The KSE-100 commenced trading on a positive note, hitting an intra-day high of 91,358.15. However, selling was witnessed in the final hours of trading, which trimmed intra-day gains.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 90,864.09, an increase of 668.58 points or 0.74%.
Buying was led by index-heavy cement, banking and energy sectors with stocks of OGDC, PPL, NBP, MEBL and MLCF traded in the green.
The stock market has been on a record-breaking spree in recent weeks, amid investors’ expectations of an imminent rate cut in the upcoming monetary policy, alongside strong corporate earnings.
On Monday, PSX opened on a strong positive note and hit record high levels before selling pressure erased most of the intra-day gains. The benchmark KSE-100 index settled at 90,195.52, which was its then-highest-ever level with a net gain of 201.55 points or 0.22%.
Globally, Asian stocks were mixed in volatile trading on Tuesday as investors girded for three days of tech megacap earnings reports on Wall Street, kicking off with Google parent Alphabet later in the day.
The dollar drifted not far from a three-month high with one of the Federal Reserve’s preferred employment gauges – the JOLTS job openings report – due on Tuesday, ahead of highly anticipated monthly non-farm payrolls data on Friday.
The Nikkei index recovered from a cautious start to build on the previous session’s gains.
The US election has entered its final stretch, with opinion polls still too close to call a winner, despite some betting sites and financial markets leaning toward a win for Republican Donald Trump over Democrat Kamala Harris.
Crude ticked up slightly following its plunge on Monday on signs the war in the Middle East would not widen, after Israel avoided targeting oil and nuclear facilities in a retaliatory strike on Iran at the weekend.
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