After a cautious start, trading activity picked up at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 gaining nearly 500 points during the intra-day trading on Tuesday.
At 1:15pm, the benchmark index was hovering at 162,186.51, a gain of only 499.33 points or 0.31%.
Buying was observed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies and OMCs. Index-heavy stocks, including HBL, NBP, UBL, OGDC, POL, SSGC, SNGPL and WAFI, traded in the green.
On the fiscal front, Pakistan’s current account posted a deficit of $112 million in October 2025, data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed.
The deficit came on the back of a significantly higher import bill and lower exports during the month.
On Monday, PSX began the week on a measured note, closing mixed as the market oscillated between gains and profit-taking throughout the session. The benchmark index slipped to 161,687.18, reflecting a decline of 248.01 points.
Internationally, Asian stocks slid in early trade on Tuesday, as financial markets waited on a rush of key U.S economic data delayed by the government shutdown, while investors rolled back bets of a Federal Reserve rate cut next month.
Traders are looking to the US data to provide clues on the health of the world’s largest economy, with the closely watched September nonfarm payrolls report due on Thursday.
Focus in the region was also on Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s meeting with Bank of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda at 0630 GMT, the first discussions to be held between the pair since the new leader was inaugurated last month.
Ueda has signalled the chance of an interest rate hike as soon as next month. But Takaichi and her finance minister, Satsuki Katayama, have made clear their preference for rates to remain low until inflation durably meets the BOJ’s 2% target.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.7% while Japan’s Nikkei was off more than 2%.
This is an intra-day update
American Dollar Exchange Rate