The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) kicked off trading on a strong note, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining nearly 600 points during the opening minutes of trading on Friday. At 9:20am, the benchmark index was hovering at 171,414.25, an increase of 584.03 points or 0.34%. Buying interest was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and refinery. Index-heavy stocks, including ARL, PRL, HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, PPL, PSO, WAFI, HBL, MCB and NBP, traded in the green. On Wednesday, PSX settled on a subdued note as cautious investor sentiment during the roll-over week led to selective selling in heavyweight stocks, dragging key indices into negative territory despite an improvement in overall trading activity. The benchmark KSE-100 Index declined by 243.51 points, or 0.14%, to settle at 170,830.22 points. The market was closed on Thursday, 25 December, on account of a public holiday. Internationally, Asian stocks rose to their highest in six weeks on Friday, and a blistering rally in precious metals showed no signs of tempering as investors sought to close out the year on a high, while a softer yen kept intervention risk in the fray. Markets in Australia, Hong Kong and most of Europe are closed on Friday, with liquidity expected to be thin. Still, investors are attempting a year-end rally, with risk appetite perking up this week. Japan’s Topix climbed to a record high and was last up 0.5%. South Korea’s benchmark index rose 0.6%, taking its annual gain to 72% and making it the best-performing major stock market in the world this year. China’s blue-chip stock index was 0.27% higher, on pace to clock an 18% gain for the year, its strongest annual surge since 2020. That pushed MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares to its highest level since November 14. The index was last up 0.4% and has gained 25% so far. This is an intra-day update