The record-breaking rally continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday, with the benchmark KSE 100 index breaking the 185,000-point barrier for the first time amid anticipation of an interest rate cut.
Strong buying interest was observed throughout most of the trading session. During the day, the benchmark index briefly dipped in the opening hour, dropping to an intra-day low of 181,182.07 before staging a sharp recovery.
It gained steadily through the day and settled near its intraday high of 185,481.45, reflecting sustained investor confidence.
The benchmark index closed at 185,062.11, an increase of 2,653.87 points or 1.45%.
Market analysts attributed the positive momentum to expectations of a policy rate cut in the upcoming Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting.
“The market anticipates a 50bps cut in the upcoming MPC,” Saad Hanif of Ismail Iqbal Securities, told media.
“Liquidity-driven buying, continued asset class conversion, and upbeat investor sentiment kept the rally firmly intact,” said Ismail Iqbal Securities in its post-market note.
“Commercial banks, cement, and technology & communication sectors were the major contributors in today’s session, cumulatively adding 2,330 points to the benchmark index,” it added.
On Monday, the PSX kicked off the New Year on a powerful note as aggressive buying by local institutional investors, particularly mutual funds, triggered a broad-based rally that pushed to fresh historic highs.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index surged by a massive 3,373.31 points, or 1.88%, to close at 182,408.24.
Internationally, Asian stocks extended their record climb on Tuesday, taking the baton from Wall Street, where gains for oil companies and financials helped the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit an all-time peak.
US big oil got a boost from the country’s military raid at the weekend that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Crude oil eased back after rising $1 a barrel overnight as traders assessed the possible impact on crude flows from Venezuela, home to the world’s largest oil reserves.
Overall, however, the events had a limited effect on risk sentiment, with equities driven more by momentum and currencies focused on macroeconomic data.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares climbed 0.4% to its highest-ever level, driven primarily by advances for Japanese stocks, with the Topix index jumping 1.3% to a record peak.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.7%, mainland Chinese blue chips gained 0.3% and Australia’s stock benchmark rose 1%. South Korea’s KOSPI eased 0.4% from record-high levels reached on Monday.
US S&P 500 futures tacked on 0.1% following a 0.6% rise in the cash index overnight. Chevron leapt more than 5%.
US President Donald Trump said he would put Venezuela under temporary American control and that he could order another strike if the South American nation does not cooperate with US efforts to open up its oil industry and stop drug trafficking. He also threatened military action in Colombia and Mexico.
Trump plans to meet with executives from US oil companies later this week to discuss boosting Venezuelan oil production.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee registered an improvement against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Tuesday. At close, the local currency settled at 280.07, a gain of Re0.03 against the greenback.
Volume on the all-share index decreased to 1,306.1 million from 1,384.3 million recorded in the previous close. However, the value of shares improved to Rs85.32 billion from Rs78.1 billion in the previous session.
K-Electric was the volume leader with 109.62 million shares, followed by B.O.Punjab with 79.91 million shares, and Pak Int.Bulk with 62.34 million shares.
Shares of 485 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 238 registered an increase, 218 recorded a fall, and 29 remained unchanged.
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