Bulls Dominate as PSX Opens Week with 1,700-Point Intraday Gain

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) started the week on a positive note, with the benchmark index gaining more than 1,700 points during intraday trading.

At 11am, the benchmark KSE-100 index had climbed 2,273.78 points to 178,367.89 from the previous close of 176,094.11. By 2:18pm, its gain had eased to 1,781.72 points.

The rally came as global oil prices fell sharply on Monday after US President Donald Trump announced that fresh talks with Iran would begin later in the day.

Mettis Global attributed the positive momentum at the PSX to easing geopolitical tensions after Trump called off a planned strike on Iran, reducing immediate concerns of a wider regional conflict.

Awais Ashraf, director of research at AKD Securities, said investor optimism carried over from the previous week amid expectations of a quick agreement between Washington and Tehran.

He said market sentiment improved after Trump announced that talks would resume without setting a deadline for a deal following the end of hostilities.

Ashraf added that the expected return of inflation to single digits in July, with data due later on Monday, could provide another boost to the market by strengthening expectations of monetary easing and supporting investor confidence.

The KSE-100 index, however, ended July the first month of the current fiscal year lower. Topline Securities said the index fell 4,208 points, or 2.3 per cent, month-on-month as rising US-Iran tensions pushed global crude prices higher and weighed on investor sentiment.

During July, average daily trading volume stood at 845 million shares, while average daily traded value was recorded at Rs37.5 billion.