The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Index closed marginally higher after witnessing range-bound trading as investors remained cautious ahead of the FY26 budget to be presented to June 10.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 118,332.90, marginal increase of 111.78 points or 0.09%.
“The stock market saw a range-bound session today, with the index moving within a confined band due to rollover pressures and uncertainty surrounding the upcoming budget,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.
Positive momentum was driven by notable contributions from MEBL, SYS, PKGP, PPL, and DGKC, which together added 223 points to the index. Topline said.
Another brokerage house Ismail Iqbal Securities said a wait-and-see approach dominated sentiment, with participants largely staying on the sidelines in the absence of clear market moving triggers.
On Monday, the KSE-100 index fell sharply as investors reacted to the postponed budget and uncertainty over the IMF’s approval of the circular debt plan. The benchmark index dropped by 881.55 points, or 0.74%, settling at 118,221 points.
Internationally, the Asian shares eased on Tuesday, though US futures rose after President Donald Trump delayed his threatened 50% duties on European Union shipments, while the US dollar was headed for a fifth straight monthly loss.
In Japan, yields on super-long government bonds fell early in the session, retreating from their all-time highs in the wake of last week’s heavy selloff in the bonds.
Markets in the US were closed on Monday for a holiday, making for thin overnight trading conditions and leaving investors latching on to lingering optimism from Trump’s U-turn on his threat to impose 50% tariffs on imports from the EU next month, restoring a July 9 deadline.
Nasdaq futures were up 1.26% in Asia while S&P 500 futures similarly rose 1.11%. FTSE futures advanced 0.94%. UK markets were also closed on Monday.
Results from Nvidia are due on Wednesday, where the AI darling is expected to report a 65.9% jump in first-quarter revenue.
Elsewhere, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.17%, while Japan’s Nikkei similarly fell 0.15%.
China’s CSI300 blue-chip index edged 0.06% lower while the Shanghai Composite Index was little changed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dipped 0.1%.
Focus for investors this week will also be on speeches from a slew of Federal Reserve policymakers and Friday’s US core PCE price index, for clues on the outlook for US rates.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee declined further against the US dollar, depreciating 0.04% in the inter-bank market on Tuesday. At close, the local currency settled at 282.17, a loss of Re0.11 against the greenback.
Volume on the all-share index increased to 690.39 million from 635.53 million recorded in the previous close.
The value of shares rose to Rs23.83 billion from Rs18.58 billion in the previous session.
K-Electric Ltd was the volume leader with 267.62 million shares, followed by WorldCall Telecom with 31.56 million shares, and P.T.C.L with 20.01 million shares.
Shares of 459 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 211 registered an increase, 210 recorded a fall, while 38 remained unchanged.
