PSX falls 825 points as US-Iran uncertainty, oil pressure weigh | The Express Tribune

KARACHI:

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) came under renewed selling pressure on Tuesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 index shedding 825.22 points, or 0.48%, as concerns over prolonged Middle East tensions and elevated oil prices weighed on investor sentiment.

The Index had started on a strong note, climbing 324.35 points, or 0.19%, to 170,749.97 by 9:38am, but reversed course during the session and remained in the red through the close. It touched an intraday high of 170,944.35 and a low of 169,538.23 before settling at 169,600.40.

Earlier, resilience was seen in automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies and oil marketing companies, but broad-based selling eventually erased the opening gains.

Global developments remained a key drag as diplomatic efforts between the United States and Iran continued without a breakthrough. Also oil prices remained elevated as uncertainty over the conflict continued to cloud the outlook for Middle Eastern supplies. 

Read: PSX wobbles as Hormuz uncertainty persists

The domestic economic backdrop also remained in focus as Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) formally kicked off talks for the fourth review of the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility and the third review under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility.

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb held the opening meeting with the visiting IMF mission, with the discussions taking place against a more challenging external environment due to the regional conflict and higher energy costs. 

This combination of factors kept investors cautious, prompting the benchmark to surrender its early gains and close firmly in negative territory.
Cumulatively, trading activity strengthened significantly, with total volume rising to 568 million shares from Monday’s 421 million.

The value of traded shares stood at Rs20.8 billion. Of the 496 companies traded in the ready market, 154 closed higher, 305 lower and 37 unchanged, reflecting the broad-based nature of the decline. Cnergyico PK was the volume leader, with trading in 56.6million shares, losing Rs0.23 to close at Rs13.09.