KSE-100 Surrenders 2,442 Point Rally: Pakistan Stock Exchange Investors Dump Refinery Stocks As Gulf Hostilities And Houthi Blockade Threats Push Global Oil Prices Nearly Two Percent Higher
According to Dawn, the KSE-100 index closed Tuesday at 176,133.56 points, up just 205.83 points or 0.12 percent, after surrendering an intraday rally that had carried it 2,442.72 points higher to 178,370.45 by 10:09am.
The collapse was fast. The market slid below 177,000 points by 1:56pm as participants locked in gains at elevated levels. Topline Securities called it broad based profit taking. Refinery stocks absorbed the heaviest selling on speculation that Pakistan’s long delayed refinery policy faces further delays.
Oil did the damage. Brent crude climbed $1.62 to $90.84 a barrel, a 1.8 percent jump driven by continued Gulf hostilities and Houthi threats of a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia. West Texas Intermediate rose 1.7 percent to $84.60.
This is the real story. Pakistan’s market is no longer trading on domestic fundamentals. It is trading on Gulf headlines, and every dollar added to Brent lands directly on an import bill the country cannot afford.
A 205 point gain is not a rally. It is a market holding its breath.
Check out our previous coverage of Pakistan’s economy on The Trusted Times.
