PSX: Buying continues, KSE-100 up over 500 points

Business Recorder reported that buying interest dominated the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Monday, lifting the benchmark KSE-100 index by more than 500 points during the session. At 3:05pm the index stood at 171,426.73, a gain of 542.15 points or 0.32%. Buyers focused on carmakers, cement producers, lenders, oil and gas explorers, fuel marketers and refiners, and index heavyweights including HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, PPL, POL, PSO, SSGC, NBP and UBL traded in positive territory.

The market had been volatile over the previous week, with the index moving inside a narrow range as investors weighed friction between the United States and Iran and a sharp rise in oil prices. Worries about regional energy supply also dampened sentiment, and the KSE-100 managed only a 372.73 point rise, or 0.22% week-on-week, to reach 170,884.59 points.

Abroad, Asian shares edged higher as strong demand for data from artificial intelligence buoyed chipmakers, while oil fell after reports that more crude was leaving the Middle East than earlier believed. US 2-year yields climbed 36 basis points in two weeks to 4.7604%, their highest since mid-2024, and futures put a 56% chance on another Federal Reserve rate hike in October.