KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange bounced back on March 31, with renewed buying lifting the benchmark KSE-100 Index by 1,900.34 points, or 1.29%, to close at 148,743.31 after a bruising session a day earlier. The market swung sharply through the day, touching an intraday low of 147,743.67 before climbing to a high of 150,225.63, a sign that buyers were willing to step back in even as volatility stayed very much alive.
The rebound came after Monday’s heavy rout, when the KSE-100 had fallen 4,864.54 points to 146,842.97, extending its losing streak and rattling sentiment across the board. Tuesday felt different. Dealers said bargain hunting returned in force, especially in index-heavy names, as investors moved to pick up stocks that had been knocked down in the previous session.
Buying was seen across a wide spread of sectors, including auto assemblers, cement, commercial banks, power, refineries, oil and gas exploration, and oil marketing companies. Blue-chip support came from names such as National Bank, Meezan Bank, Lucky Cement, Oil & Gas Development Company, Mari Energies, Habib Bank, and Hub Power, which helped push the index back toward the 149,000 mark before late profit-taking trimmed some of the day’s stronger gains.
There was an external trigger too, and traders were watching it closely. Market commentary from Behtari Capital and brokerages cited signs of possible de-escalation in Middle East tensions after remarks linked to the US stance on Iran, a development that helped steady global risk appetite and soften some of the panic around oil and regional conflict. Analysts said that shift, even if tentative, gave local investors enough confidence to re-enter the market after the previous day’s slide.
Still, nobody was pretending the clouds had cleared completely. Analysts quoted in market coverage said profit-taking emerged in the second half, and caution lingered because of elevated oil prices, geopolitical uncertainty, and the possibility that inflation data could affect interest-rate expectations ahead of the State Bank’s policy meeting. In other words, the buying returned, but the nerves didn’t disappear.
Activity, meanwhile, remained fairly solid though somewhat below the previous session. Volume on the all-share index slipped to 434.96 million shares from 529.13 million, while traded value eased to Rs22.54 billion from Rs29.60 billion. K-Electric led the volumes chart with 46.92 million shares, followed by Dost Steels with 36.12 million and WorldCall Telecom with 27.97 million. Out of 479 traded companies, 281 advanced, 137 declined and 61 closed unchanged.
For investors, the message from Tuesday’s session was pretty plain: the appetite for risk is still there, but it’s selective, jumpy, and highly sensitive to headlines. After a punishing drop, the PSX found its footing again. Whether that turns into a steadier recovery now depends on what comes next, both at home and abroad.
