Buying momentum persists, KSE-100 gains ovr 600 points
At 11:35am, the benchmark index was hovering at 139,982.79 level, an increase of 602.74 points or 0.43%.
Buying was seen in key sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, fertilizer, oil and gas exploration companies and refinery. Index-heavy stocks, including ARL, PRL, MARI, POL, PPL, SNGPL and UBL traded in the green.
On Monday, PSX saw modest upward momentum, fueled by investor interest in cement and technology stocks ahead of the monetary policy announcement and key corporate earnings. The benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 172.77 points, or 0.12%, to close at 139,380.06 points
Internationally, Asia shares eased on Tuesday while the euro nursed its losses as investors pondered the downside of the US-EU trade deal and the reality that punishing tariffs were here to stay, with unwelcome implications for growth and inflation.
The initial relief over Europe's 15% levy quickly soured when set against the 1% to 2% that stood before President Donald Trump took office. Leaders in France and Germany lamented the outcome as a drag on growth, pulling down stocks and bond yields across the continent while slugging the single currency.
Trump also flagged a 'world tariff' rate of 15% to 20% on all trading partners that were not negotiating a deal, among the highest rates since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
A further risk to world growth came from a sudden spike in oil prices after Trump threatened a new deadline of 10 or 12 days for Russia to make progress toward ending the war in Ukraine or face tougher sanctions on oil exports.
The air of caution saw MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slip 0.7%. Japan's Nikkei eased 0.8% while Chinese blue chips fell 0.1%.
This is an intra-day update
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