Bullish momentum was observed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index closing at a new all-time high amid a gain of over 800 points.
Buying interest was observed throughout the trading session, pushing the benchmark index to an intra-day high of 171,001.71.
At close, the KSE-100 settled at 170,741.34, an increase of 876.82 points or 0.52%.
The increase reflected “sustained investor confidence and an improving market outlook,” said Topline Securities.
“Key index heavyweights — PPL, SYS, MLCF, NBP, and UBL — led the rally, collectively contributing approximately 651 points to the index’s overall advance,” said the brokerage house.
In a key development, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), contrary to market expectations, decided to reduce the policy rate by 50 basis points (bps) to 10.5% on Monday.
The market expected the central bank to maintain the status quo.
During the previous week, PSX closed on a strongly bullish note, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index surging to a new all-time high of 169,864.53 points, marking a week-on-week gain of 1.7%, as improving macroeconomic indicators and renewed investor confidence fuelled broad-based buying.
Globally, Asian stocks tumbled in early trading on Monday as investors reined in risk-taking at the start of a week sprinkled with key central bank decisions and data releases.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan shed 1%, led by a drop of as much as 2.7% in South Korean shares, one of the world’s best-performing markets this year.
S&P 500 e-mini futures were up 0.3%, while the yield on the US 10-year Treasury bond was last down 1.2 basis points at 4.182% as investors awaited a string of economic data releases and a slew of decisions from central banks.
Among the central banks making decisions this week, the Bank of Japan is expected to hike rates by 25 basis points to 0.75%, while the Bank of England may make an equal-sized cut to 3.75%. The European Central Bank is expected to keep interest rates on hold, alongside Sweden’s Riksbank and Norway’s Norges Bank.
Investors will also have the chance to catch up on economic data that was delayed by the US government shutdown, including the jobs report for November and the monthly consumer price index.
In Japan, stocks fell despite getting a lift after the BOJ’s closely watched “tankan” survey showed on Monday that big manufacturers’ business sentiment hit a four-year high, suggesting the economy was weathering the hit from higher US tariffs. The Nikkei 225 was last 1.4% lower.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee recorded marginal improvement against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Monday. At close, the local currency settled at 280.31, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback.
Volume on the all-share index increased to 905.68 million from 873.03 million recorded in the previous close. The value of shares improved to Rs47.72 billion from Rs40.87 billion in the previous session.
Pak Int.Bulk was the volume leader with 123.27 million shares, followed by Hum Network with 39.67 million shares, and Fast Cables Ltd with 36.33 million shares.
Shares of 486 companies were traded on Monday, of which 239 registered an increase, 202 recorded a fall, and 45 remained unchanged.
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