Business Recorder
A day after massive selling, buying returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining nearly 1,200 points during trading on Tuesday. At 2:45pm, the benchmark index was hovering at 171,784.97, up by 1,184.77 points or 0.69%. Buying 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 ARL, HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, PPL, POL, HBL and MEBL, traded in the green. “Turning green despite a potential transaction tax and a freeze in US-Iran talks shows immense underlying strength,” said Behtari Capital, a digital wealth management platform that is a subsidiary of Capital Stake. “Local funds are prioritizing corporate value accumulation and infrastructure plays over external shocks.” On Monday , PSX started June on a bearish note as investor sentiment remained fragile amid the absence of a conclusive United States-Iran peace agreement over the weekend, triggering broad-based profit-taking and selling pressure across key sectors. The benchmark KSE-100 Index witnessed a volatile session and closed sharply lower by 3,362.62 points, or 1.93%, to settle at 170,600.20 points. Internationally, Asian stocks made a cautious start to trading on Tuesday as uncertainty over whether the ceasefire in the Middle East conflict would hold capped the lift to sentiment from renewed optimism around AI. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fluctuated between gains and losses as trading commenced, last 0.5% lower, led by a 2% decline for Korean shares after an initially higher open. S&P 500 e-mini futures were down 0.3%, while in Japan, the Nikkei 225 slumped 0.7%. Brent crude held steady around $95 a barrel after Lebanon announced a partial ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel on Monday, which could clear the path for renewed efforts to end the three-month war between the United States and Iran. Oil prices, settled up more than 4% on Monday after reports that Tehran had halted indirect negotiations with the U.S. Overnight, the S&P 500 closed 0.3% higher after ISM’s manufacturing PMI rose to 54.0 in May from 52.7 the previous month, beating expectations to reach the highest level in four years, likely driven by businesses front-loading orders amid rising prices and shortages because of the war with Iran. This is an intraday update
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