Business Recorder
Negative sentiments were observed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) amid uncertainty over the US-Iran talks in Islamabad. The benchmark KSE-100 Index was down over 1,200 points during the opening minutes of trading on Wednesday. At 9:40am, the benchmark index was hovering at 171,902.25, down by 1,253.54 points or 0.72%. Selling was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refinery. Index-heavy stocks, including HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, PPL, HBL, MCB, MEBL and NBP, traded in the red. On Tuesday, PSX witnessed a volatile session but managed to close in positive territory amid cautious investor sentiment. The benchmark KSE-100 Index demonstrated strong resilience, gaining 959 points, or 0.56%, to close at 173,155.79 points. Internationally, US stock futures rose , and the dollar wavered on Wednesday after President Donald Trump said he would indefinitely extend the Iran ceasefire, keeping sentiment buoyed, although with the Strait of Hormuz still closed, oil held onto its recent gains. Trump’s announcement appeared to be unilateral, and it was not immediately clear whether Iran, or US ally Israel, would agree to extend the ceasefire, which began two weeks ago. Markets, though, took the news in stride with risk momentum intact. S&P futures rose 0.5% while Nasdaq futures gained 0.6% in early Asian hours. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.14% after hitting a seven-week high in the previous session. Japan’s Nikkei was down 0.2% as traders consolidated their recent gains. After a sharp selloff in March due to war in the Middle East, markets across the globe have swiftly rebounded this month and are back at pre-war levels as the prospect of a peace deal and the ceasefire have helped risk sentiment. This is an intra-day update
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