KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday came under selling pressure which wiped out all the gains made earlier in the day, caused by weakening global crude oil prices, refinery closure and anticipation ahead of the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) monetary policy announcement. In the morning, trading began on a robust note, marked by the intra-day high of 71,846.63 points. The KSE-100 index’s surge was fueled by widespread buying of cyclical stocks, notably in the cement sector, following reports of a nine-year high current account surplus. However, profit-taking at the day’s peak triggered volatility in the market. The shift in sentiment came in the wake of withdrawal of Shanghai Electric Power’s acquisition offer to K-Electric (KE) and uncertainty surrounding Pakistan-US relations after trade-boosting agreements between Islamabad and Tehran. Additionally, the weaker Pakistani rupee kept the index in the red. Resultantly, the market reached its intra-day low at 71,338.42 towards the close of trading. The index ended the day near the day’s low with thin losses, but managed to stay above the 71,000 mark. “Stocks closed under pressure amid higher trading on weak global crude prices, reports of refineries’ shutdown and expectations of a prudent SBP policy announcement next week ahead of IMF loan talks in May,” said Ahsan Mehanti, MD of Arif Habib Corp. “Shanghai Electric Power’s withdrawal from the KE acquisition offer, uncertainty about Pakistan-US relations following Pakistan-Iran trade pacts and a weak rupee played the role of catalysts in negative close at the PSX.” At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded a decrease of 74.06 points, or 0.1%, and settled at 71,359.41. Topline Securities, in its report, commented “the day goes to the cement sector. This market behaviour can be attributed to across-the-board buying of cyclical stocks, especially in the cement sector, in the backdrop of current account surplus of $619 million and in anticipation of 17-18% inflation for April 2024.” At the day’s high, profit-taking was initiated in the market. Street expectations were scattered for the…