PSX rebounds, gains nearly 1,200 points after SBP maintains status quo

After days of selling pressure, buying momentum returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), in line with market expectations, kept the policy rate unchanged. The benchmark KSE-100 Index gained nearly 1,200 points during the opening minutes of trading on Tuesday. At 9:35am, the benchmark index was hovering at 163,359.39, a gain of 1,195.58 points or 0.74%. Buying interest was observed in key sectors including cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refinery. Index-heavy stocks, including HUBCO, POL, PPL, SSGC, MCB, MEBL and UBL, traded in the green. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Monday decided to keep the policy rate unchanged at 11%. The committee noted that headline inflation rose significantly to 5.6% in September, whereas core inflation remained unchanged at 7.3%.