PSX closes above 164,000 as buyers return after rate hike

The Pakistan Stock Exchange's benchmark index closed above 164,000 points on Tuesday, extending the recovery it began in the previous session, as buying interest returned to the market.

Topline Securities Ltd reported that the KSE-100 index gained 1,428.73 points, or 0.88 per cent, to close at 164,467.20, according to Dawn. The advance came on the same day the State Bank of Pakistan raised its policy rate by 50 basis points to 12 per cent, a step Dawn reported was aimed at curbing inflation stemming from the Middle East conflict.

Dawn reported that equity investors read the rate increase as a balancing act rather than a decisive turn against the market, and that valuations seen as attractive continued to draw buyers into the index.

A second report, by Investify, described the same session as the PSX extending its bullish momentum amid hopes of peace in the Middle East. That report, as carried, did not give a closing level or point change for the index.

Neither report provided a sector-wise breakdown of the session's activity, and the closing figures could not be independently verified.

The State Bank's move to 12 per cent takes borrowing costs higher for companies and for investors buying shares on margin, a factor that typically weighs on equity prices. Tuesday's close suggests that, for now, the market has absorbed the increase.

The benchmark's move above 164,000 points follows a recovery rally in the preceding session. Dawn's report did not specify the size of that earlier gain, and no closing level for the previous day was given in the material available.