The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) kicked off trading on a positive note on Tuesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining nearly 1,200 points during the opening hours of trading.
At 10:55am, the benchmark index was at 158,734.28, an increase of 1,179.62 points or 0.75%.
Buying was observed in key sectors, including automobile, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration, OMCs, and power generation. Index-heavy stocks, including HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, POL, PPL, PSO, MCB, MEBL, and UBL, traded in the green.
Pakistan has requested unilateral tariff concessions from China on approximately 700 items as part of the third phase of the China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA), currently under negotiation.
According to the Ministry of Commerce, Pakistan’s exports to China have increased following the second phase of the CPFTA. However, Pakistan’s preferential market access has eroded due to China’s FTAs with other trading partners.
On Monday, the PSX ended on a bearish note as investors opted for profit-taking after last week’s robust rally, dragging the index down.
The benchmark KSE-100 index fell 482.71 points, or 0.31%, to close at 157,554.66 points
Globally, Asian share markets looked to build on recent hefty gains on Tuesday as optimism around all things AI sucked money into the tech sector, while wagers on several more U.S. interest rate cuts kept gold on a hot streak.
Wall Street had been led to another record as Nvidia announced it would invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI, with the first data centre gear to be delivered in the second half of 2026.
The seemingly inexorable rise in tech was attracting money from momentum funds and option players, becoming almost self-fulfilling.
The metal hit a fresh record at $3,755.47 per ounce, nearly 9% higher for the month so far.
The rush into tech has been a boon for chip sectors in many Asian markets, with South Korean stocks up 0.2%, having surged almost 9% this month.
Japan’s Nikkei was closed for a holiday but has climbed 6.5% so far in September, while Taiwan has risen almost 7%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3%, to be 5.5% higher on the month.
Chinese blue chips nudged up 0.1%.
This is an intra-day update
