KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a resurgence in bullish momentum as the KSE-100 benchmark surged by over 800 points during intra-day trading, reaching the 65,200 mark before pulling back nearly half of its gains by Wednesday’s close.
By 1 pm, the KSE-100 index stood at 65,190.90, marking an 841.30 point surge or a 1.31% increase. However, by 2:10 pm, it retreated to 64,781.22, maintaining a 431.62 point rise or a 0.67% increase. Notably, index-heavy sectors like cement, chemicals, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration firms, OMCs, refineries, and the technology & communication sector experienced significant buying.
Tuesday witnessed bearish sentiments as the benchmark index suffered a loss of over 312 points, settling at 64,349.60. Experts attributed this to a slight economic improvement and fresh liquidity injection from various sectors due to the start of a new month.
On a positive note, Pakistan’s trade deficit decreased by over 40% to $1.7 billion in December 2023 compared to $2.84 billion in the same period last year. This improvement was reflected in exports, which rose by 22.2% to $2.8 billion while imports decreased by 12.25% to $4.51 billion in December 2023.
Globally, Asian markets followed a downward trend on Wednesday, mirroring a worldwide sell-off after a strong finish to 2023. Traders were focused on the upcoming release of Federal Reserve minutes and US jobs data. The surge in equities towards the end of last year, based on expectations of multiple interest rate cuts by the US central bank, was cautioned by analysts who foresaw a potential pullback, particularly affecting tech giants like Apple and Amazon.
