Bulls continued to roar at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index crossing the 181,000 level for the first time in history during the opening minutes of trading on Monday.
At 9:40am, the benchmark index was hovering at 180,863.49, an increase of 1,828.56 points or 1.02%.
Buying interest was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and power generation. Index-heavy stocks, including HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, POL, PPL, PSO, SNGPL, SSGC, HBL, MCB, MEBL and UBL, traded in the green.
During the previous week, Pakistan’s equity market extended its strong upward trajectory with the benchmark KSE-100 Index closing at a fresh all-time high, as easing inflationary pressures, strong sectoral performance, and heightened investor participation reinforced bullish sentiment.
The KSE-100 Index surged by 6,634 points, registering a week-on-week increase of 3.8%, to settle at 179,035 points, compared to 172,401 points in the preceding week.
Internationally, Asian stocks climbed, and oil prices were choppy on Monday as investors considered the implications of US military action in Venezuela to prepare for a packed week of economic data releases in the first full trading week of the year.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 1.2%, while S&P 500 e-mini futures were 0.1% higher.
Investors are assessing the repercussions of a dramatic weekend of events, which saw the US capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
President Donald Trump said on Saturday he was putting Venezuela under temporary American control.
Among regional share markets, the Nikkei 225 soared 2.8% to near a record high reached two months ago. Japanese stocks extended gains as data showed manufacturing activity stabilised in December, ending a five-month streak of deterioration.
Seoul’s Kospi and Taiwan climbed more than 2% apiece to hit fresh record highs.
Markets in China were more muted, with the Hang Seng Index up 0.1%, dragged down by Chinese oil companies as a gauge of Hong Kong-listed energy stocks fell 3.1%. Australian shares were up 0.1%.
This is an intra-day update
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