Bulls roar through Pakistan Stock Exchange with US-Iran war on hold

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) started the business week on Monday with a bang amid easing tensions in the Middle East as the US and Iran have halted attacks against each other, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

At the opening session, the PSX’s benchmark KSE-100 Index rocketed to 176,235.22 points, up by 5,214.02 points or 2.96%. However, at the end of day, the index recorded a massive surge of 7,241.13 points or 4.06 percent to 178,262.33 points.

The positive market movement came after the US and Iran paused attacks against each other, raising hopes that diplomatic efforts could help ease tensions and prevent further escalation in the region.

Buying interest was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and power generation. Index-heavy stocks, including OGDC, PPL, POL, MARI, PSO, HUBCO, ARL, HBL, MCB and MEBL, traded in the green.

Another factor was today’s meeting of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) after which it will announce its monetary policy for the next 50 days, with market participants widely expecting the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to keep the policy rate unchanged.

During the previous week, the PSX had remained under pressure amid escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, particularly the Houthis’ announcement of a blockade in the Red Sea, which dampened investor confidence and sent international Brent crude oil prices above US$100 per barrel for the first time in nearly two months, triggering broad-based selling across the market.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index had declined by 2.7% on a week-on-week basis, losing 4,781.60 points to close at 171,021.20 points.

Reporter Kavish Memon