Daily Times

The 100-Index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued with bullish trend on Tuesday, gaining 668.57 points, a positive change of 0.74 percent, closing at 90,864.09 points as compared to 90,195.52 points on last trading day.

A total of 602,810,650 shares were traded during the day as compared to 567,264,435 shares the previous trading day, whereas the price of shares stood at Rs 28.203 billion against Rs.29.210 billion on the last trading day.

As many as 440 companies transacted their shares in the stock market, 171 of them recorded gains and 219 sustained losses, whereas the share price of 50 companies remained unchanged.

The three top trading companies were WorldCall Telecom with 41,401,611 shares at Rs 1.27 per share, Silk Bank Limited with 31,281,039 shares at Rs 1.08 per share and Pace (Pak) Limited with 30,208,661 shares at Rs5.73 per share. Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited witnessed a maximum increase of Rs.162.00 per share price, closing at Rs 19,180.00, whereas the runner-up was Siemens (Pakistan) Engineering with Rs 122.62 rise in its per share price to Rs 1,348.81.

Hallmark Company Limited witnessed a maximum decrease of Rs 27.38 per share closing at Rs 816.66 followed by Sazgar Engineering Works Limited with Rs 22.00 decline to close at Rs 992.56. Separately, Most major global stock markets rose on Tuesday with investors looking ahead to the release of US economic data and the earnings reports of tech titans this week.

Oil prices rebounded after a sharp fall the previous day on relief that Israel’s strikes on Iran spared the country’s energy infrastructure.

Concerns in the oil market have now shifted back to focus on potential oversupply in 2025 and a slowdown in demand from China, the world’s largest oil importer, according to analysts.

US stocks closed higher Monday, boosted by the cheaper oil, and as investors look ahead to a busy week of economic indicators with the market already hovering near record highs.

The US government will release its third quarter GDP growth estimate this week, as well as its closely watched monthly labour market report, which will indicate the health of the world’s largest economy.

Investors are also eyeing the earnings reports of five of the “Magnificent Seven” US tech giants due this week, including Google-parent Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook-parent Meta, and Microsoft. “Although any market focus on earnings will rapidly be diverted to next week’s presidential election and Federal Reserve meeting,” said Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell.

Major European stock markets were in the green in late morning trading while Asian markets ended mixed. London edged up around 0.1 percent as investors awaited the first budget of Britain’s new Labour government on Wednesday, expected to include tax rises on businesses. Shares in banking giant HSBC rose around four percent, leading gains on London’s FTSE 100, after it reported a strong set of earnings that beat profit expectations.

Meanwhile, shares in British oil and gas giant BP dropped one percent after the company reported a slump in profits on weak oil trading and refining margins, despite beating analyst expectations.

In Asia, Tokyo and Hong Kong stocks climbed but Shanghai and Singapore retreated.

Japanese shares built on the previous day’s gains as cheaper oil and the weaker yen outweighed uncertainty after Japan’s ruling coalition fell short of a majority in Sunday’s general election.

Investors are awaiting the Bank of Japan’s rate decision later this week, with the central bank expected to stand pat following two hikes earlier this year.

Focus is also on a key political meeting in Beijing next week, with investors hoping for details of an expected major stimulus plan to support China’s struggling economy. The People’s Bank of China on Monday rolled out a new lending tool to inject liquidity into the market. “Beijing hopes this tool will prop up market sentiment,” said Stephen Innes, analyst at SPI Asset Management.

“China’s economic engine has been sputtering with soft demand and lacklustre growth data, and with the potential shake-up of the US election looming enormous, stability in the financial markets is critical for Beijing,” he added.