PSX Faces Selling Pressure Amid IMF Concerns

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) experienced a downturn as trading commenced today, influenced by worries surrounding the IMF budget. The benchmark KSE-100 Index declined by almost 800 points during intraday activity on Tuesday.

As of 1:10 PM, the index was recorded at 118,890.52, representing a decrease of 799.11 points, equivalent to 0.67%.

Sectors such as automobile assemblers, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration, and OMCs faced selling pressure. Major stocks including HUBCO, NBP, UBL, MARI, OGDC, PPL, and POL showed negative performance.

On the preceding day, the PSX remained stable, entering a consolidation phase near record highs. Investors displayed caution ahead of the budget announcement.

The KSE-100 Index had earlier reached an intraday high of 120,285.55 points before settling at 119,689.63 on Monday, a slight increase of 40 points or 0.03%.

Global Markets Overview

Across the globe, Asian stocks saw gains on Tuesday, and US Treasury yields stabilized, offering some relief for the US dollar as investors assessed the debt burden of the US economy and awaited developments on trade agreements.

A downgrade by Moody’s of the US sovereign credit rating last week, due to concerns over the nation’s $36 trillion debt, triggered a selloff in Treasuries on Monday. However, this stabilized during Asian trading hours on Tuesday.

Analysts noted that markets are currently lacking clear direction due to the absence of significant trade deal progress.

The 30-year bond yield decreased by 3.5 basis points to 4.906% after previously hitting an 18-month high of 5.037%. Major US stock indexes showed resilience, recovering from earlier losses to close mostly flat.

Consequently, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose by 0.36%, nearing the seven-month peak recorded last week. Japan’s Nikkei index increased by 0.65% in early trading.

Chinese stocks maintained stability after the People’s Bank of China reduced benchmark lending rates for the first time since October. Furthermore, five major state-owned banks in China also lowered deposit interest rates.

The blue-chip index experienced a rise of 0.15%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index increased by 1%.

This information reflects an intra-day market update.