PSX: KSE-100 crosses 180,000 level as buying continues

Business Recorder reported that the KSE-100 crossed 180,000 during Wednesday’s session as buying followed early selling. At 1:30pm, the index stood at 180,148.80; the report described it as 813.56 points, or 0.45%, lower, despite also saying it had gained more than 800 points in the session. Commercial banks, oil and gas explorers and oil marketing companies were among the sectors attracting purchases, while SSGC, PPL, OGDC, MCB, MEBL, NBP and UBL traded higher.

The move followed Tuesday’s advance, when broad-based buying lifted the KSE-100 by 5,448.56 points, or 3.13%, to 179,335.24, amid easing geopolitical tensions after remarks by US President Donald Trump. International markets faced a different set of concerns: stronger-than-expected US core inflation and hawkish Federal Reserve comments raised expectations of rate increases, while Asian shares were mixed. The report also noted that Nvidia shares fell 5.5% overnight, while SoftBank lost 3.3% after reporting a second-quarter net loss of $7 billion.