Bulls continued to make further inroads at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining over 1,400 points during the opening minutes of trading on Monday.
At 9:35am, the benchmark index was hovering at 163,350.64, an increase of 1,415.45 points or 0.87%.
Across-the-board buying interest was observed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refinery. Index-heavy stocks, including ARL, MARI, OGDC, POL, PPL, PSO, SNGPL, SSGC, MCB, MEBL and UBL, traded in the green.
The PSX ended the previous week with strong gains despite persistent geopolitical uncertainty, as the KSE-100 Index rose 2,342.29 points or 1.5% to close at 161,935.19.
The benchmark continued its upward trajectory due to robust performance in key sectors. The fertiliser sector in particular benefited from reports of the ECC approving a shift from costly RLNG to Mari gas—an adjustment expected to ease subsidy pressure and stabilise urea prices.
Internationally, Asia’s stock markets struck a cautious tone on Monday as traders looked ahead to a week of corporate earnings and catch-up US data, with the focus on the interest rate outlook and the fate of a frothy rally in artificial intelligence stocks.
Hesitant-sounding policymakers have driven market expectations for a US rate cut in December back from more than 60% a week ago to 40% on Monday and put pressure on stocks.
S&P 500 futures were 0.3% higher in early trade.
Japan’s Nikkei was flat, but tourism and some retail stocks fell heavily after China cautioned citizens against visiting Japan as a diplomatic dispute deepened.
Shares in department store operator Isetan Mitsukoshi and cosmetics-maker Shiseido notched drops of around 10%.
In Australia, a 0.7% drop for BHP after Britain’s high court found it liable for a dam collapse in Brazil weighed on the bourse, which hit a four-month low.
Wall Street indexes recovered from a steep selloff on Friday to notch a mixed close, with a small drop for the S&P 500 and modest gain for the Nasdaq.
This is an intra-day update
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