The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) index closed on a positive note on Tuesday, making an intraday high of +299 and low of -398 points, closing at the 33,442 level, up 191 points. Heavily discounted stock prices across all sectors enticed investors to take a plunge and begin cherry-picking, said an equity analyst at Next Capital . He added that the market kicked off to a depressing start as intensified selling due to more than expected interest rate hike (+150bps) pulled the index deeper in the red to intraday low by 398 points. However, as investors with risk appetite took heart to build positions in the market, the benchmark recouped losses and closed in the positive territory. Volumes decreased by 7%, standing at 153 million shares. UNITY (+9.4%), TRG (-5.5%) and KEL (+3.6%) led volumes with more than 39 million shares changing hands. On the news front, the policy rate touched an 8-year high of 12.25 percent, up by 150 basis points (bps) on Monday as the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) stepped up efforts to address the macroeconomic challenges. Buying was witnessed in the cement sector as investors took the opportunity to accumulate stocks on attractive valuations. MLCF (+4.0%) and PIOC (+5%) closed at their respective upper circuit and DGKC (+3.1%) and LUCK (+3.0%) closed in the green zone. POL (+5%), OGDC (+4.4%) were the major movers from the E&P sector as crude oil prices edged higher in international market. Banking space closed lower than their previous day close despite interest rate hike, HBL (-1.6%), MCB (-0.8%), BAHL (-1.0%) and NBP (-0.3%) closed in the red zone. Maaz Mulla, an equity analyst, expects the market to remain choppy and volatile ahead and recommends investors to stay cautious ahead of FY19-20 Budget.