PSX sheds 814 points in topsy-turvy trading

According to The Express Tribune, the benchmark KSE-100 index ended Tuesday's session lower at 165,151.64 points, a loss of 814 points or 0.49%. Trading swung between gains and losses before heavy selling pushed the index down toward its session low. The index peaked at 166,425.56 during the day and dropped to 165,111.14 at its lowest point.

Early buying in automobile assemblers, cement, banks and oil stocks did not last, as the index failed to build a sustained upward move. Brent crude was quoted at $109 per barrel, close to a five-month high, as traders priced in geopolitical risk after Houthi attacks on Saudi infrastructure. Reports of vessel strikes in the Gulf kept those concerns in focus. KTrade Securities said weakness was broad-based, with commercial banks, technology, refinery and power stocks among the biggest drags.

Corporate results gave some support: Pakistan Oilfields reported earnings of Rs8.2 billion, up 51% year-on-year, while Attock Petroleum's earnings rose 74% to Rs6.64 billion. Attock Refinery's net profit jumped 13x to Rs18.6 billion. Cnergyico PK led volumes with 46.5 million shares traded and closed Rs0.47 lower at Rs12.41, while foreign investors bought shares worth Rs206 million.