The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued its positive momentum on Monday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index climbing over 400 points during intra-day trading as bullish sentiment prevailed across the market. The index touched an intra-day high of 163,602.15, driven by strong buying activity in major sectors.
By 12:40pm, the index stood at 162,348.94, reflecting an increase of 413.75 points (0.26%). Investors showed heightened confidence in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, commercial banks, fertilisers, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation, and refineries. Heavyweight stocks such as ARL, MARI, OGDC, POL, PPL, PSO, SNGPL, SSGC, MCB, MEBL, and UBL all traded in positive territory.
The strong opening follows a robust performance last week, when the KSE-100 Index recorded a 1.5% rise, gaining 2,342.29 points and closing at 161,935.19. Market momentum has been supported by sectoral developments—particularly in fertiliser stocks, which surged after reports of the ECC approving a shift from RLNG to Mari gas, a move expected to relieve subsidy pressure and stabilise urea prices.
On the global stage, Asian markets traded cautiously ahead of key US data and major earnings reports. Concerns over the US interest rate outlook have reduced expectations for a December rate cut from 60% to 40%, adding pressure on global equities. While the S&P 500 futures rose 0.3%, Japan’s Nikkei remained flat, with tourism-related stocks falling sharply after China issued a travel advisory against visiting Japan amid diplomatic tensions.
In Australia, the market slipped to a four-month low as BHP dropped 0.7% following a UK court ruling holding it liable for the Brazil dam disaster. Meanwhile, Wall Street ended mixed on Friday, with the Nasdaq managing a slight gain despite earlier heavy selling.
The continued upward movement at PSX highlights strong domestic investor confidence, supported by sectoral reforms and corporate performance, even as global markets remain cautious.
