PSX: Benchmark index up over 600 points in early trade

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a significant rise in its benchmark KSE-100 Index during the early hours of trading on Tuesday, with the index increasing by more than 600 points. At 9:35am, the index was at 177,610.06, marking a gain of 643.38 points or 0.36%. There was a notable buying interest in various sectors, including automobile, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, and power generation.

Heavyweight stocks such as HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, PPL, POL, PSO, MCB, MEBL, and NBP also traded in the green. Moody's Ratings upgraded the Government of Pakistan's local and foreign currency issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings to B3 from Caa1 earlier in the week. However, late-session profit-taking in heavyweight stocks wiped out most of the early gains, leaving the KSE-100 Index marginally lower by 199.84 points, or 0.11%, at 176,966.69 points at the day's close.

Global markets also saw a decline, with Asian shares slipping on Tuesday as oil prices continued to fall. This decline was partly due to threats of US sanctions on Iran being revealed as a miscommunication. US Treasury yields also dropped as it was reported that the Treasury Department might use its cash account to finance increased debt buybacks, reducing the need for further sales of short-term bills.

The tech sector, particularly Nvidia, was closely monitored, with investors awaiting results on Wednesday. Analysts projected Nvidia's revenue to almost double to approximately $92 billion, with full-year earnings guidance ranging from $103 billion to $105 billion. Other markets, including MSCI's Asia-Pacific index outside Japan, the Nikkei, and the Kospi, also saw declines on Tuesday.

These factors contributed to a generally negative sentiment in the tech sector, compounded by Alibaba's $10.2 billion share sale at a significant discount and concerns over Samsung Electronics' shareholder-return plan.