Value hunters help PSX close in green

Dawn reported that the Pakistan Stock Exchange posted a second straight session of gains on Tuesday, although investor sentiment stayed volatile amid geopolitical and economic uncertainty. According to Topline Securities, the benchmark KSE-100 finished at 171,402.08 points, up by 248.92 points, which amounts to 0.15 per cent, having touched 171,680.74 points earlier in the session. Higher diesel and petrol rates added to business expenses and to inflation worries.

The biggest gains came from Mari Energies, Pakistan Petroleum, Hub Power, Fauji Cement and Lucky Cement, which together contributed 233 points. On the downside, Bank Al-Habib, Fauji Fertiliser and MCB Bank were the main drags, shaving around 172 points between them. Ali Najib of Arif Habib Ltd said early sentiment was fragile, but bargain buyers lifted the index as Saudi Arabia sought to restart pipeline flows. Trading volume fell 7.36 per cent to 641.8 million shares, while traded value dropped 8.13 per cent to Rs18.4 billion.

Sitara Petroleum Service posted FY26 profit of Rs4,976 million, or Rs3.0 per share, a 69 per cent rise year on year. Fourth-quarter profit, however, slid 10 per cent year on year to Rs570 million, mainly because of inventory losses, weaker GO supplies and the lack of volumetric discounts. A final cash payout of Re1 per share was announced, while dealer margins were kept at Rs8.64 per litre.