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The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued its strong upward momentum on Monday. The benchmark KSE-100 Index opened with a sharp rise and gained more than 1,400 points within minutes of trading. The rally kept the market firmly above the 163,000 level as investors showed confidence across key sectors.
At o9:35 AM, the KSE-100 stood at 163,350.64 points, up by 1,415.45 points or 0.87%. The index extended last week’s positive trend and showed strong across-the-board buying.
Major sectors, including automobile assemblers, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration, OMCs, power generation, and refinery traded in the green. Index-heavy stocks such as ARL, MARI, OGDC, POL, PPL, PSO, SNGPL, SSGC, MCB, MEBL, and UBL also recorded gains.
The PSX ended the previous week with strong gains despite geopolitical uncertainty. The benchmark index added 2,342.29 points, rising 1.5% to close at 161,935.19.
The fertiliser sector led the rally. It benefited from reports of the ECC approving a shift from costly RLNG to Mari gas. This policy adjustment is expected to ease subsidy pressure and stabilise urea prices, giving investors more confidence in the sector’s outlook.
Asian markets opened cautiously on Monday. Traders looked ahead to a week of corporate earnings and catch-up US data. The focus remained on the interest rate outlook and the future of the AI-driven market rally.
Market expectations for a US interest rate cut in December dropped from more than 60% last week to 40% on Monday. This shift pressured global stock markets.
S&P 500 futures rose 0.3% in early trade. Meanwhile, Wall Street recovered from Friday’s steep selloff to close mixed, with a small drop for the S&P 500 and a modest gain for the Nasdaq.
Japan’s Nikkei stayed flat. However, tourism and retail stocks fell sharply after China warned citizens against visiting Japan as diplomatic tensions deepened. Stocks like Isetan Mitsukoshi and Shiseido dropped around 10%.
In Australia, a 0.7% fall in BHP, after Britain’s high court held it liable for a dam collapse in Brazil, dragged the bourse to a four-month low.
This is an intra-day update for November 17.
