The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) staged a robust rally on Tuesday as investors maintained a calmer frame of mind and continued a healthy buying spree throughout the day.

Positive sentiment prevailed in the market after international oil prices fell by nearly 2% in early Asian trade following US President Donald Trump’s statement that he had paused a planned attack on Iran to allow negotiations aimed at ending the Middle East conflict.

Strong buying activity was observed in index-heavy sectors including energy, cement, automobile assemblers, commercial banks, and Oil Marketing Companies, which helped keep the benchmark index in positive territory throughout the session.

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Although the market briefly retreated during midday trading as some early gains faded due to profit booking, the index recovered in the latter half of the session on renewed buying interest. The index oscillated between an intra-day high of 164,309.65 and a low of 162,563.58.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index posted a handsome gain of 1,091.66 points, or 0.67%, to settle at 162,896.68.

Trading volume declined to 391.9million shares from Monday’s book of 499.7million. Value of traded shares stood at Rs22.9billion.

Cumulatively, shares of 480 companies were traded. Of these, 262 stocks rose, 171 fell and 47 remained unchanged. Cnergyico PK was the volume leader with trading in 24 million shares, inched down Rs0.05 to close at Rs8.38.