Buying rally lifts KSE-100 above 116,000

Bullish momentum was observed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index crossing the 116,000 level amid a gain of nearly 900 points during the opening hours of trading on Monday.

At 10:25am, the benchmark index was hovering at 116,164.81, an increase of 892.73 points or 0.77%.

Buying was witnessed 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, traded in the green.

“The uptrend may continue, but politics will be key to guide market direction in the short term,” said Intermarket Securities in a note.

“The new US administration will take office from Monday; our market will keenly watch for any sympathetic views towards Imran Khan. Upcoming MPC may deliver a moderate 100bps rate cut, which will not excite the market, in our view; a smaller cut, however, will be taken negatively,” it added.

During the previous week, the PSX witnessed a positive trend and recorded healthy gains on the back of fresh buying mainly from local investors coupled with institutional support.

The benchmark KSE-100 index surged by 2,024.79 points on a week-on-week basis and closed at 115,272.08 points.

Internationally, the US dollar was firm and Asia’s stock markets were cautiously positive on Monday as investors waited for an expected flurry of policy announcements in the first hours of Donald Trump’s second presidency and eyed a rate hike in Japan at the end of the week.

Trump takes the oath of office at noon Eastern Time, and promised a “brand new day of American strength” at a rally on Sunday.

He has stoked expectations that he will issue a slew of executive orders right away and, in a reminder of his unpredictability, launched a digital token on Friday. The token soared to trade above $70 at one point, with a total market value north of $15 billion.

Monday is a US holiday, so the first responses to his inauguration in traditional financial markets may be felt in foreign exchange, where traders are focused on Trump’s tariff policies, and then in Asian trade on Tuesday.

US equity futures were a fraction weaker on Monday morning in Asia, while the dollar, which has rallied since September on strong U.S. data, and Trump’s ultimately successful political campaign gained momentum, held steady.

Japan’s Nikkei rose 1%.

Last week, the S&P 500 notched its biggest weekly percentage gain since early November, and the Nasdaq its largest since early December, fueled by benign inflation data.

This is an intra-day update