PSX rebounds 1,907 points as investors return to equities

Rate hold boosts investor confidence despite lingering US-Iran tensions, oil-supply risks

KARACHI:

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) staged a strong rebound on Tuesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining more than 1,900 points in midday trading as investors returned to equities following the sharp sell-off in the previous session.

The KSE-100 Index climbed 1,906.56 points, or 1.14%, to 169,877.21 by 12:38pm, recovering from Monday’s close of 167,970.65. The index hit an intraday high of 169,988.11 and a low of 169,189.29.

The recovery came as investors drew relief from the State Bank of Pakistan’s decision a day earlier to keep the policy rate unchanged at 11.5%, easing concerns over an unexpected monetary-policy shift and providing support to interest-rate-sensitive stocks.

Buying was observed across key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, refineries, power generation and oil marketing companies, indicating broad-based participation in the rebound.

Read: Oil, ME tensions drive PSX down

The benchmark had risen to 169,377.88 within the opening minutes at 9:32am before extending its gains during the session.

Meanwhile, international oil markets remained a source of concern. Oil prices rose nearly 2% on Tuesday as supply-disruption fears persisted after attacks on Saudi Arabian energy infrastructure left the kingdom’s east-west pipeline offline and cast doubt on efforts to ease shipping risks in the Gulf.

Despite the lingering United States-Iran conflict and uncertainty surrounding regional oil supplies, the market’s recovery reflected renewed buying interest after Monday’s steep decline.

Trading activity remained active, with around 70.58 million shares changing hands and traded value reaching Rs5.98 billion by 12:38pm.