PSX rises more than 1,000 points in intraday trade as sentiment improves

Islamabad: The Pakistan Stock Exchange moved higher on Tuesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index adding more than 1,000 points during intraday trading as investors responded positively to reports of diplomatic efforts involving the United States and Iran.

During the session, the index touched 178,370.45 points before trimming some gains to 177,023.97, which was still 1,096.24 points, or 0.62%, above the previous close of 175,927.73. Earlier in the day, at 9:39am, the market had climbed by as much as 1,902.30 points, or 1.08%, to 177,830.03. The session low was recorded at 176,930.74 points.

Broad-based buying supports the market

Buying interest was seen in several major sectors, including automobile assemblers, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, oil marketing companies, cement, and power generation.

Trading remained active, with 221.59 million shares exchanged for a total value of Rs13.63 billion.

Regional tensions and oil prices in focus

The advance at the local bourse came amid signs of a diplomatic push to reduce tensions between Washington and Tehran, which helped improve risk appetite among investors.

Oil prices also moved lower as markets assessed mediation efforts between the US and Iran alongside fresh attacks exchanged by the two sides and threats by Yemen's Houthis to impose a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia. The market's upward trend may continue unless there is any adverse development on the US-Iran front.