Buying continues at PSX, KSE-100 gains nearly 1,000 points

Bullish momentum persisted at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), as the benchmark KSE-100 Index gained nearly 1,000 points on Monday.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 114,230.06, an increase of 982.77 points or 0.87%.

Buying was witnessed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, chemical, commercial banks, fertilizer, power generation, oil and gas exploration companies and OMCs trading in the green. Index-heavy stocks including HUBCO, SSGC, SHEL, PSO, PPL, POL, ENGRO, HBL, MEBL, UBL and NBP traded in the green.

“Market will look forward to the next Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), in which consensus expectations should be for a 100bps cut to a policy rate of 12% and a potential conclusion of the easing cycle in the near term,” said Intermarket Securities in a note on Monday.

“Results season should start soon as well, where bank payouts may lift investor mood; however, results from cyclical sectors may not impress much,” it added.

During the previous week, the PSX remained under selling pressure and closed in deep red with heavy losses as the investors opted to offload their holdings on available margins.

The benchmark KSE-100 plunged by 4,339.69 points on a week-on-week basis and closed at 113,247.29 points.

Globally, Asian shares slipped on Monday while the dollar held near 14-month peaks after an unambiguously strong payrolls report shoved up bond yields and tested lofty equity valuations just as the earnings season gets underway.

Markets have already scaled back expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts to just 27 basis points for all of 2025, with the terminal level now seen around 4.0% compared to the 3.0% many had hoped for this time last year.

At least five Fed officials are on the docket to speak this week and offer their reaction to the jobs surprise, with the influential Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams appearing on Wednesday.

The hawkish turn-on rates lifted yields on 10-year Treasuries to 14-month peaks of 4.79%, and they were last trading at 4.764% in Asia.

A holiday in Japan made for thin early trading on Monday and MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged down 0.4%.
While the Nikkei,was shut, futures traded down at 38,770 compared to a cash close of 39,190.