Refinery stocks take PSX up by 398 points

The Pakistan Stock Exchange ended Monday's session higher, with the KSE-100 climbing 397.83 points, a 0.22% rise, to finish at 180,502.45. According to The Express Tribune, the index traded between 180,281.75 and an intra-day peak of 181,158.87 during the session. Energy stocks led the advance as international oil prices firmed on renewed worries over crude supplies, while the absence of major disruptions limited the gains.

Refinery stocks drew the most attention as Pakistan Refinery, Attock Refinery, National Refinery and Cnergyico all rallied on news of the refinery modernisation programme. Arif Habib Limited's deputy head of trading, Ali Najib, said five domestic refineries plan investments of $4.5-5 billion across cleaner fuels, bottom-of-the-barrel processing and capacity growth. Separately, Service Long March Tyres posted FY26 earnings of Rs1.83 per share, 30% higher than Rs1.40 a year earlier, and set a Rs0.83 per share cash payout.

Of the 498 companies traded, 197 closed higher, 276 fell and 25 were unchanged, while 1.05 billion shares changed hands worth Rs48.3 billion. Habib Bank, Fauji Fertiliser, Systems Ltd, Lucky Cement and Habib Metropolitan Bank together shed 403 points, with selective profit-taking weighing on them. Cnergyico led by volume with 312.5 million shares, gaining Rs1.33 to close at Rs15.01, while foreign investors sold Rs521.6 million of shares, according to the National Clearing Company.