KSE-100 Gains Over 1,400 Points

For the second trading day in a row, bulls grabbed control of the benchmark KSE-100 index, which gained nearly 1,400 points in the early hours of the day as the market responded to Saturday's political drama.

Within the first 10 minutes of trading, the KSE-100 had gained nearly 1,400 points and surpassed 45,000.

The benchmark index was up 1,461 points at noon when this story was filed, and it stood at 45,905 points.

The intraday rise has been spurred by a spectacular week of political drama, which culminated in Prime Minister Imran Khan's ouster from power on Saturday after losing a no-confidence vote.

Following days of political uncertainty, opposing benches submitted a resolution against him, and the voting was conducted into midnight.

The market is also reacting to the State Bank of Pakistan's (SBP) interest rate rise, which went into effect on Thursday and hiked the rate by 250 basis points to 12.25 percent from 9.75 percent, the greatest one-shot increase since the 300 basis point hike in October 1996.