KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed an explosive start to the trading week on Monday, with investors returning in force as broad-based buying pushed the benchmark KSE-100 Index sharply higher during the opening session.
Within the first hour of trading, the KSE-100 Index surged by 5,017.39 points (2.85%) to 176,038.59 points, recovering a significant portion of last week’s losses. The rally was accompanied by strong participation across the market, reflecting renewed investor confidence.
According to the opening market data, 329 stocks advanced, compared with only 19 decliners, while 216 issues remained unchanged, highlighting overwhelming buying interest across sectors.
Trading activity also remained healthy, with more than 35.84 million shares changing hands in 17,477 transactions, generating a turnover of over Rs1.8 billion.
The bullish momentum was not limited to the benchmark index. The KSE-30 Index climbed 3.04% to 52,548.60 points, the All Share Index gained 2.56% to 106,560.98 points, while the KMI-30 and BKTI indices also posted gains of nearly 3%, indicating a market-wide rally.
While no single official trigger was immediately identified for Monday’s sharp rebound, market participants said the rally appeared to be driven by aggressive value buying after last week’s decline, improving investor sentiment following Pakistan’s recent sovereign credit rating upgrade, and optimism that macroeconomic stability under the IMF-backed reform programme could continue to support corporate earnings and foreign investment.
Analysts cautioned, however, that the precise catalyst would become clearer as the trading session progressed and institutional flows emerged.
Investors will closely watch whether the market can sustain these gains throughout the session, particularly after the heightened volatility witnessed in recent trading days.
Analysts said sustained volumes and continued buying in heavyweight banking, energy and fertilizer stocks would be crucial for the benchmark index to consolidate above the 176,000-point level.
