Daily Times

The 100-Index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued with bearish trend on Tuesday, losing 366.86 more points, a negative change of 0.45 percent, closing at 81,483.64 points against 81,850.50 points on the last working day.

A total of 369,620,812 shares were traded during the day as compared to 400,309,071 shares the previous trading day, whereas the price of shares stood at Rs 17.062 billion against Rs.18.690 billion on the last trading day.

As many as 427 companies transacted their shares in the stock market, 127 of them recorded gains and 246 sustained losses, whereas the share price of 54 companies remained unchanged.

The three top trading companies were WorldCall Telecom with 39,357,051 shares at Rs1.25 per share, Pace (Pak) Limited with 22,589,739 shares at Rs 5.23 per share and Hub Power Company XD with 21,241,308 shares at Rs 129.09 per share.

Ismail Industries Limited witnessed a maximum increase of Rs 146.54 per share price, closing at Rs 1,896.67, whereas the runner-up was Rafhan Maize Products Company Limited with Rs 57.50 rise in its per share price to Rs 7,300.00.

Nestle Pakistan Limited witnessed a maximum decrease of Rs 52.05 per share closing at Rs 6,906.02 followed by Services Industries Limited with Rs 36.23 decline to close at Rs 1,112.80.

Asian Stocks

Stock markets and oil prices rallied Tuesday after China’s central bank unveiled fresh stimulus measures to kickstart growth in the world’s number two economy.

After a string of weak data that has fanned worries about the financial health of the country, China’s central bank said it would cut a slew of rates to boost growth.

Shanghai and Hong Kong stock markets closed up more than four percent, as China unveiled some of its boldest measures in years.

The Paris stock market led the way in Europe with a gain of 1.6 percent in early afternoon deals, with the luxury fashion sector boosted by hopes of rebounding demand in China.

Frankfurt was up 0.7 percent, brushing off news that German business confidence deteriorated for a fourth straight month in September, according to a closely-watched survey.

London edged up 0.3 percent, helped by strong gains to mining groups on the news out of commodities-hungry China.

Oil prices won more than two percent. China is the world’s top importer of crude.

China’s measures “should be good news for commodity producers, stocks with links to the Chinese and Hong Kong property market, and European companies that sell to the Chinese consumer”, said Kathleen Brooks, research director at broker XTB.

“This package could help the beleaguered German luxury car sector along with French luxury goods houses,” she added.

Julian Evans-Pritchard, head of China economics at Capital Economics research group, said the action by Beijing represents “the most significant… stimulus package since the early days of the pandemic”.

But he warned “it may not be enough”, adding a full economic recovery would “require more substantial fiscal support than the modest pick-up in government spending that’s currently in the pipeline”.

Tuesday’s gains for equities came after Wall Street’s Dow and S&P 500 indices kicked off the week with fresh record highs. It extends a positive run after the US Federal Reserve last week enacted its first interest rate cut in more than four years. Traders are awaiting the release Friday of the personal consumption expenditures index — the Fed’s preferred inflation metric — hoping for an idea about its next interest-rate move.