PSX: Buying returns as KSE-100 up 800 points

Business Recorder reported that buying interest emerged at the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Monday, lifting the benchmark KSE-100 index more than 800 points during the session. At 10:44am the index stood at 177,983.43, up 816.91 points or 0.46%. Gains were recorded across automobile assemblers, cement, banking stocks, oil and gas explorers, power generators and refineries.

Heavyweight index stocks such as HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, PPL, HBL, MCB, MEBL and UBL traded higher, according to the report. The rally came after a difficult week in which political and geopolitical tensions, uncertainty around the Strait of Hormuz and a steep rise in global oil prices weighed on sentiment. The KSE-100 had opened that week at 180,104.61 points and closed at 177,166.52, a weekly decline of 2,938.09 points or 1.6%.

Internationally, Asian share markets were flat on Monday while oil prices eased as traders waited for specifics on the threatened U.S. sanctions against Iran. Attention in the technology sector is also on Nvidia's results due Wednesday, with analysts expecting quarterly revenue to nearly double to around $92 billion.