The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) kicked off the week on a strong note, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining over 1,200 points during the opening minutes of trading on Monday, amid improved market sentiment following stable macroeconomic indicators.
At 9:40am, the benchmark index was hovering at 160,801.99, up 1,209.09 points, or 0.76%.
Buying interest was observed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refinery. Index-heavy stocks, including ARL, PSO, MARI, OGDC, POL, PPL, HUBCO, HCAR, DGKC, MEBL and NBP, traded in the green.
Pakistan posted a budget surplus of Rs 2.1 trillion, equal to 1.6% of GDP, during the first quarter (July-September) of the current fiscal year, said a document of the Finance Division.
During the previous week, the PSX endured a lacklustre performance as persistent geopolitical uncertainty and weak macroeconomic indicators kept investor sentiment under pressure. The benchmark KSE-100 Index declined by 2,038 points or 1.3% on a week-on-week basis to settle at 159,592.91 points.
Internationally, global shares rose on Monday on optimism that an end to the historic US government shutdown was in sight, while the dollar was nursing losses from last week.
The US Senate on Sunday moved forward on a measure aimed at reopening the federal government and ending a now 40-day shutdown that has sidelined federal workers, delayed food aid and snarled air travel.
The breakthrough helped push Nasdaq futures up 1.2% while S&P 500 futures rose 0.7%. EUROSTOXX 50 futures and DAX futures were up more than 1% each, while FTSE futures gained 0.85%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 1% and Japan’s Nikkei advanced 0.97%.
If the Senate eventually passes the bill, the package must still be approved by the House of Representatives and sent to President Donald Trump for his signature, a process that could take several days.
The shutdown has taken a growing toll on the US economy, with federal workers from airports to law enforcement and the military going unpaid while the central bank flies blind with limited government reporting of economic data.
In China, the CSI300 blue-chip index was down 0.24%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.6%.
This is an intra-day update
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