PSX Seesaw Session Ends in Narrow Decline

With bulls driving the index to its intraday high in the first five minutes of trade, the market started with strong bullish momentum from the previous session.

But in the new year, bears appeared, demonstrating the market's dual character.

High and sticky inflation, which increased 29.7% YoY in December—hotter than analysts had predicted—also negatively impacted market mood.

The benchmark KSE-100 index saw a decline of 312.18 points, or 0.48%, by the conclusion of trade on Tuesday, closing at 64,349.60.

With an intraday high of 65,333.70 (+671.92) and a low of 64,213.63 (-448.16) points, the index fluctuated within a range of 1,120 points.

The KSE-100 index saw 424.016 million shares traded overall.

Out of the 100 index firms, 2 stayed untraded, 3 were unchanged, 68 finished down, and 27 closed up.

Power Generation & Distribution (74.5), Fertiliser (44.39), Investment Banks / Investment Companies / Securities Companies (35.07), Oil & Gas Marketing Companies (32.09), and Technology & Communication (31.44) were the KSE-100 index's weakest sectors.

Conversely, Oil & Gas Exploration Companies (32.63), Food & Personal Care Products (16.86), Commercial Banks (13.57), Cement (5.41), and Synthetic & Rayon (1.74 points) all provided support for the index.

The following companies pulled the index lower: LUCK with 28.22 points, SYS with 35.32, ENGRO with 28.47, HUBC with 45.55, and MARI with 38.22.

On the other hand, companies that added points to the index were PPL with 47.73, OGDC with 40.02, MEBL with 24.1, UNITY with 22.11, and PIOC with 17.27 points.

In the broader market, the All-Share index closed at 42,991.53 with a net loss of 233.20 points.

Total market volume was 671.665 million shares compared to 625.147 from the previous session while traded value was recorded at Rs24.45 billion showing an increase of Rs5.93bn.

There were 246,046 trades reported in 375 companies with 104 closing up, 250 closing down and 21 remaining unchanged.

KSE-100 has gained 22,897 points or 55.24% during the fiscal year, whereas the ongoing calendar year has witnessed a cumulative increase of 1,899 points, equivalent to 3.04%.