Bulls staged a comeback at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 index rebounding on the back of fresh $1 billion Saudi inflows and renewed optimism over United States–Iran talks in Islamabad. According to the PSX website, the market opened on a positive note, with the KSE-100 rising to 175,298.11 at around 10:30 am, gaining more than 3,000 points before easing slightly. The index maintained its upward momentum as the session progressed.
Buying returned across major sectors, including automobile assemblers, automobile parts and accessories, commercial banks, oil and gas marketing companies, pharmaceuticals, power generation and distribution, refineries, synthetic and rayon, textile weaving, and vanaspati and allied industries. At 12:52 pm, the market was trading at 174,363.21, up by 2166.51 points, or 1.26% from the previous close. The recovery followed confirmation by the State Bank of Pakistan that it had received $1 billion from Saudi Arabia as part of a $3 billion deposit support.
Market sentiment also found support from the growing expectations of a second round of talks between the United States and Iran in Islamabad. On Monday, the market had declined by more than 1,700 points to 172,196.70, reversing the earlier gains amid concerns over the economic impact of tensions in the Middle East. Analysts and brokerage firms said investor sentiment remains sensitive to geopolitical developments, with expectations around external financing and diplomatic progress likely to influence short-term market direction.
Globally, stocks also rebounded on Tuesday as markets took heart from reports Iran is considering attending peace talks with the United States in Pakistan, with renewed bets on AI underpinning demand. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 1.1%, as South Korea’s Kospi rose 2.7% to hit a fresh record high for the first time since the Iran war began. S&P 500 e-mini futures were up 0.2%, while Brent crude slipped 0.8% to $94.71 a barrel.
South Korea’s Kospi hit a record high for the first time since the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran erupted on February 28, while Taiwanese shares, tech investor Softbank and memory chipmaker SK Hynix set fresh all-time highs on optimism around AI, after Amazon said on Monday that it will invest up to $25 billion in Anthropic. Shares in SK Hynix jumped 4.8%, lifting its market value to $564.6 billion. It was closing in on ASML, a Dutch manufacturer of lithography devices at the heart of advanced chipmaking and Europe’s most valuable company.
Shares of Chinese circuit board maker Victory Giant Technology jumped 60% in their Hong Kong debut on Tuesday, after raising HK$20.1 billion ($2.6 billion) in the city’s biggest listing in more than half a year. Japan’s Nikkei 225 tacked on 0.9%, while Australian shares bucked the trend, slipping 0.1%. Oil prices fell over $1 on Tuesday, reversing gains in the previous session.
Brent crude futures declined $1.04, or 1.1%, at $94.44 a barrel at 0600 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for May fell $1.66, or 1.9%, to $87.95. The May contract expires on Tuesday and the more-active June contract was down $1.24, or 1.4%, at $86.18.