KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) culminated Tuesday’s trading session in the red, as investors resorted to widespread profit-taking after the benchmark KSE-100 Index hovered near its all-time high during intraday trade. Despite the correction, expectations of robust corporate earnings for the upcoming result season continued to underpin investor confidence and helped limit the extent of losses.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index settled at 186,255.55 points, shedding 1,199.14 points or 0.64 percent from the previous close of 187,454.69 points. The market remained highly volatile throughout the session, with the index touching an intraday high of 188,126.68 points—a fresh lifetime peak—before retreating to an intraday low of 186,189.21 points amid the pervasive profit-taking.

Sector-wise, the BR Commercial Banks Index was the sole sector to end in positive territory, edging up 23.32 points or 0.04 percent. In stark contrast, the BR Oil and Gas Index plummeted 232.40 points (1.45 percent), the BR Cement Index dropped 147.26 points (1.09 percent), and the BR Power Generation and Distribution Index lost 300.22 points (1.00 percent).

Commenting on the market’s performance, Ali Najib, Deputy Head of Trading at Arif Habib Limited, noted that the PSX witnessed a consolidative session as investors booked profits after the benchmark index approached record levels. However, he emphasized that expectations of robust corporate earnings in the forthcoming result season continued to provide underlying support to market sentiment.

As the dust settles on Tuesday's trading, market participants are now anticipating the outcome of the Sukuk auction, which will heavily influence interbank liquidity and set the tone for the remainder of the week's trading sessions.