The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Index surged by nearly 600 points on Tuesday, driven by optimism around the ongoing Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Islamabad.
The trading day began with a range-bound session, followed by some selling pressure that pushed the index to an intra-day low of 84,856.21 points. However, investor enthusiasm picked up in the latter part of the day, with a strong buying spree driving the index to an intra-day high of 85,893.99 points.
At the close of trading, the KSE-100 Index settled at 85,840.34 points, marking an increase of 578.96 points or 0.68%.
According to Topline Securities, the market benefited from a pullback in the fertiliser and exploration and production (E&P) sectors, with investors remaining optimistic about new investment opportunities that could emerge from the SCO summit. Key contributors to the index’s rise included major stocks such as MARI, EFERT, OGDC, ATRL, and FFC, which collectively added 425 points.
This surge follows Monday’s session where the KSE-100 Index had declined by 222.02 points due to late-session selling pressure.
The two-day SCO summit, which commenced in Islamabad, brought together key member state delegations, including India’s Minister for External Affairs, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, marking the first visit of an Indian official to Pakistan in nearly a decade.
In other developments, Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) reported a significant loss of Rs6.3 billion for the quarter ending September 30, 2024, compared to a Rs2.8 billion loss during the same period last year.
On the currency front, the Pakistani rupee depreciated slightly by 0.03% against the US dollar, closing at 277.74 in the inter-bank market.
The all-share index saw a decline in volume to 422.11 million shares from 477.64 million in the previous session, with the value of shares trading at Rs24.47 billion. PTCL led the trading volume with 37.87 million shares, followed by Hub Power Co. and Kohinoor Spinning.
Shares of 443 companies were traded, with 202 gaining, 174 declining, and 67 remaining unchanged.
