PSX: Buying continues, KSE-100 up over 1,500 points

Buying momentum continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining over 1, 500 points during the opening minutes of trading on Friday. At 10: 30am, the benchmark index was hovering at 170, 551. 17, up 1, 507. 98 points or 0. 89%. 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 LUCK, MCB, MEBL, NBP, UBL, MARI, OGDC, POL, PPL and PSO, traded in the green. On Thursday, the PSX staged a strong rebound as easing global oil prices and developments suggesting a possible de-escalation in the US-Iran conflict improved investor sentiment and encouraged fresh buying across key sectors. The benchmark KSE-100 Index surged 1, 021. 40 points, or 0. 61%, to close at 169, 043. 20 points. Internationally, Asian stocks rose, and the dollar held its ground on ​Friday as investors contended with global policymakers ramping up efforts to rein in inflation, with a dip in oil prices ‌improving sentiment ahead of an expected rate hike from the Bank of Japan. Monetary policy response is in focus this week as the over six-month-long war in the Middle East shows few signs of ending, keeping oil prices above $100 per barrel and fanning inflation fears across the globe. Hopes of alternate ways for oil ​supply from the Middle East to reach markets pushed Brent crude futures down 1% to $103. 77 a barrel even as concerns ​about strikes between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthis lingered. Traders also took their cues from a rally on ⁠Wall Street overnight, led by beaten-down tech stocks. Bond prices steadied after another brutal selloff this week that took the 10-year ​US Treasury beyond 5% to its highest since 2007. It was last at 4. 936%. In Asia, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan ​rose 0. 55%. Japan’s Nikkei was 0. 9% higher, while tech-heavy South Korea’s KOSPI surged 2%. This is an intraday update

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