Stocks surge, KSE-100 gains over 500 points
At 10:10am, the benchmark index was hovering at 139,101.66 level, an increase of 504.30 points or 0.36%.
Buying was observed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and fertilizer. Index-heavy stocks, including EFERT, MCB, MEBL, NBP, PPL, and POL, are traded in green.
During the previous week, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed on a historic high, buoyed by a blend of investor optimism, strong macroeconomic data, and anticipation of robust corporate earnings.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index surged to an all-time closing level of 138,597 points, marking a weekly gain of 3.2%, or 4,297 points—the highest ever in its trading history.
Analysts noted that the sentiment on the trading floor was distinctly optimistic, despite foreign institutional selling and the usual summer lull in investor activity.
Internationally, Asian shares and the yen held their ground on Monday as Japanese elections proved bad for the government but no worse than already priced in, while Wall Street futures braced for earnings from the first of the tech giants.
Investors were also hoping for some progress in trade talks ahead of President Donald Trump's August 1 tariff deadline, with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick still confident a deal could be reached with the European Union.
There were reports Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping were closer to arranging a meeting, though likely not until October at the earliest.
In Japan, the ruling coalition lost control of the upper house in an election on Sunday, further weakening Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's grip on power as a tariff deadline looms.
Ishiba expressed his intention to stay in the position, which along with a market holiday, limited the reaction and the yen was 0.4% firmer at 148.29 to the dollar.
This is an intra-day update
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