KARACHI: The Pakistan stock market continued its upward movement of the previous week and gained over 900 points in the intraday on Monday.
The benchmark KSE-100 index crossed the 116,192 mark, gaining over 900 points during intraday trading at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX).
At 12:55 pm, the benchmark index was trading at 116,192, up 920.43 points or 0.8 percent.
Buying was seen in key sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, chemicals, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and power generation. Index heavy stocks including Hubco, PSO, Shell, MARI, OGDC, PPL, MEBL, NBP and UBL saw positive trading.
“The upward trend may continue, but politics will be key to guide the market direction in the short term,” Intermarket Securities said in a note.
He said the new US administration will take office from Monday. Our market will be keeping a close eye on any sympathetic views on Imran Khan. The upcoming MPC may deliver a moderate cut of 100 bps in interest rates, which we do not think will excite the market. However, a small cut will be taken negatively.
The PSX witnessed a positive trend during the past week and recorded a healthy increase due to fresh buying by local investors and institutional support.
The benchmark KSE 100 index closed at 115272.08 points, up 2024.79 points on a weekly basis.
Internationally, the US dollar remained firm on Monday and Asian stock markets remained cautiously positive as investors await the expected wave of policy announcements in the first hours of Donald Trump’s second presidency and keep an eye on the interest rate hike in Japan at the end of the week.
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Trump took the oath of office at noon Eastern Time, promising a “brand new day of American strength” at a rally on Sunday.
He has raised expectations that he will issue several executive orders immediately and, in a reminder of his uncertainty, launched a digital token on Friday. The token traded above $70 at one point, with a total market value of $15 billion.
Monday is a U.S. holiday, so the first reaction to his inauguration in traditional financial markets could be felt in foreign exchange, where traders are focused on Trump’s tariff policies, and then in Asian trading on Tuesday.
U.S. equity futures were slightly weaker in Asia on Monday morning while the dollar, which has been rising since September on strong U.S. data and Trump’s successful political campaign, held steady.
