KSE-100 settles above 98,000 for the first time as buying rally continues

Banking sector led the gain on Monday as a mixed trend was witnessed at the wider Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) with the benchmark KSE-100 closing above 98,000 for the first time in history.

The KSE-100 started the session in the red, hitting an intra-day low of 97,137.63 at 9:40am.

However, buying returned to the bourse, pushing the index above the 99,000 level. It hit an intra-day high of 99,317.47 before retreating below 99,000.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 98,079.78, an increase of 281.55 points or 0.29% as compared to the previous close.

Commercial banks, fertiliser, and pharmaceuticals led the charge with HBL, NBP, MEBL, UBL, MCB, HUBCO, PSO, SSGC and FFC in the green territory.

Investors are, meanwhile, also gauging political volatility on the local front.

Thousands of charged loyalists of jailed founding chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and ex-premier Imran Khan, from across the country, launched the “decisive” long march on Sunday towards the federal capital, removing all the barricades set up by the government to stop their way.

In a bid to foil the long march, the police also arrested hundreds of PTI supporters from twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad as residents took to the streets in big numbers to voice support to Khan’s final call, pressing the government to meet their three demands – release of PTI political members from jails, abolishment of 26th controversial Constitutional Amendment and return of what they call PTI’s “stolen mandate.”

On Friday, a massive wave of profit-taking erased almost all intra-day gains at as the KSE-100 plummeted to the 97,500 level after hitting a high of 99,623.03 earlier in the session. A sea of red dominated the charts as investors chose to book profits, and it was only the banking sector that helped the benchmark close in the green.

Globally, Asian stocks rallied with US equity futures on Monday, while the dollar retreated against rivals as bond yields slid following the selection of fund manager Scott Bessent as the next U.S. Treasury secretary, with investors expecting he will be a voice for markets in Washington.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares climbed 1.6% as of 0143 GMT, and US S&P 500 futures pointed 0.5% higher to just shy of a record high, after a 0.3% gain for the cash index at the end of last week.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee remained largely stable against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Monday. At close, the currency settled at 277.75, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback.

Volume on the all-share index plunged to 640.26 million from 1,249.09 million on Friday.

The value of shares declined to Rs25.62 billion from Rs45.47 billion in the previous session.

Hascol Petrol was the volume leader with 64.82 million shares, followed by Cnergyico PK with 48.06 million shares, and Fauji Foods Ltd with 40.92 million shares.

Shares of 460 companies were traded on Monday, of which 220 registered an increase, 185 recorded a fall, while 55 remained unchanged.