The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a volatile trading session on Tuesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index hovering at 178,631.81, up 159.95, or 0.09%, at 1:04pm. Early optimism had propelled the benchmark index over the 179,000-point level, above the previous close of 178,471.86, before profit-taking erased most of the gains by midday.

During the morning session, the KSE-100 climbed to 179,094.19 points, gaining 622.33 points, or 0.35%, by around 10:39am. The rally later strengthened further, pushing the index to an intra-day high of 179,405.55 points.

However, the bullish momentum lost steam in the second half of the session as investors opted for profit-taking at higher levels. The selling pressure briefly pushed the market into negative territory, with it touching an intra-day low of 178,424.19 points, before selective buying helped the index recover.

Read: PSX ends lower after volatile session

The market had opened on a positive note, extending the momentum from the previous session, with investors accumulating stocks across key sectors including cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, oil marketing companies (OMCs), and power generation firms.

Trading activity remained robust, with more than 172 million shares changing hands, while the total value of traded shares stood at Rs12.8 billion.

Despite the midday pullback, market participants remained cautiously optimistic, with the benchmark index continuing to trade above the 178,500-point level amid selective buying in heavyweight sectors.