KEY POINTS
- PSX has gained over 2,000 points
- US has announced pausing most of the new tariffs except for China
- Trump says he will raise tariff on Chinese imports to 125pc
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) has gained over 2,000 points on Thursday, a day after the US announced a 90-day pause on several newly imposed tariffs, excluding China, for three months.
Buying momentum continued throughout the trading session, taking the KSE-100 Index to an intra-day high of 117,484.16.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 116,189.21, showing an increase of 2,036.06 points or 1.78%.
The buying was observed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation, and refinery. Index-heavy stocks including ARL, HUBCO, PSO, MARI, OGDC, PPL, and POL traded in the green.
A total of 638,089,718 shares were traded during the day as compared to 448,693,567 shares on the previous trading day, whereas the price of shares stood at Rs 36.924 billion against Rs 26.585 billion on the last trading day.
As many as 450 companies transacted their shares in the stock market, 346 of them recorded gains and 63 sustained losses, whereas the share price of 63 companies remained unchanged.
On Wednesday, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) faced renewed selling pressure as investor concerns over a potential global trade war resurfaced. The benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 114,153.15, down by 1,379.28 points or 1.19%.
Trump’s tariffs
Trump’s sudden reversal of tariffs came less than 24 hours following steep new tariffs kicked in on imports from dozens of trading partners. The new trade barriers have hammered markets, raised the odds of recession, and prompted retaliatory responses from the European Union and China.
US President Donald Trump said he would raise the tariff on Chinese imports to 125 per cent from the 104 per cent level that took effect at midnight Wednesday. At the same time, Trump said he would lower them on other nations also subject to his new targeted duties.
Beijing’s response
China has said that Beijing is open to dialogue with Washington, but China is ready to fight till the end, Chinese media reported.
China’s commerce ministry said on Thursday that China is open to dialogue with the US but this must be on the basis of mutual respect and equality.
Pressure, threats and blackmail are not the right way to deal with China, ministry spokesperson He Yongqian told a regular press briefing when asked about whether the world’s two largest economies have started tariff negotiations.
China will “follow through to the end” if the U.S. insists on its own way, He said.
