Business Recorder
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) kicked off the week on a positive note, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining nearly 3,300 points during the opening minutes of trading on Monday. At 9:29am, the benchmark index was hovering at 166,269.73, up by 3,275.56 points or 2.01%. Buying interest was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refinery. Index-heavy stocks, including ARL, HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, PPL, POL, HBL, MCB, NBP and UBL, traded in the green. During the previous week, Pakistan’s equity market endured sustained pressure as persistent geopolitical uncertainty and tightening financial conditions dampened investor sentiment. The benchmark KSE-100 Index declined by 4.5%, shedding 7,677.87 points on a week-on-week basis to close at 162,994.17 points. Internationally, shares edged higher while oil prices flatlined in Asia on Monday, as investors drew comfort from signs of patchy progress in settling the Middle East conflict at the start of a week packed with earnings and key economic data. President Donald Trump said the United States would begin an effort to free up ships stranded in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday morning, but gave no details of the plan. A statement from Central Command said support would include guided-missile destroyers, over 100 land and sea-based aircraft and 15,000 service members. Iran earlier said that the US had responded to its 14-point proposal via Pakistan and that it was reviewing the response, though Trump said it was unlikely to be acceptable. Brent crude futures were flat at $108.30 per barrel , having recovered from an initial drop of more than 2%, while US crude was steady at $102.01. Dealers noted a bulk carrier had reported being attacked by multiple small craft while transiting Iran’s Sirik on Sunday, and it was not clear how many ships would try and run the Strait of Hormuz even with Navy protection. A holiday in Japan made for thin trading conditions, leaving Nikkei futures up only modestly at 59,630 versus a cash close of 59,513. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.6%, while South Korean stocks returned from holiday with a jump of 2.6%. EUROSTOXX 50 futures and DAX futures each added 0.1%, while FTSE futures dipped 0.4%. This is an intraday update
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