The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) staged a recovery on Wednesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining more than 900 points during intraday trade as investors returned to heavyweight sectors after the previous session’s sharp decline.
The index touched an intraday high of 180,901.26 around 11:57am, up 1,054 points, before paring some gains. By 12:50pm, the benchmark was trading at 180,708.87, up 862.19 points, or 0.48%, from Tuesday’s close of 179,846.68. Traded volume had reached 117.2 million shares.
So far, the market has moved between 179,931.00 and 180,901.26. The KSE-100 remains up 3.82 percent since the start of the year and has gained 22.93 percent over the past 12 months.
Buying interest was seen in automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies, oil marketing firms and power generation stocks. Major index contributors, including HUBCO, Mari Energies, Pakistan Oilfields, Pakistan Petroleum, Habib Bank, MCB Bank, Meezan Bank, National Bank of Pakistan and United Bank, traded in positive territory.
Among active stocks, Cnergyico, Hascol Petroleum, THCCL, Bank of Punjab and TBL posted gains, while Dost Steels, Unity Foods and WorldCall Telecom traded lower. CLVL, ASHT, RUBY, FECTC, JATM and several other stocks featured among the session’s top gainers, whereas PKGI, FTSM and Dost Steels led the decliners.
The improved sentiment followed remarks by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, who told Bloomberg News that the United States and Iran appeared to be moving closer to an arrangement that could ease regional tensions.
The recovery comes after Tuesday’s sell-off, when the KSE-100 Index fell 1,463.60 points, or 0.81 percent, amid geopolitical uncertainty, rising oil prices and concerns over the prospects of a US-Iran agreement.
Meanwhile, global markets remained cautious ahead of key US inflation data, while oil and gold prices edged higher.
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