Stocks open higher as KSE-100 gains over 1,400 points

Stocks kicked off the final week of the year with a bang, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index trading well above the 173,000 level during the opening minutes of Monday’s session.

At 9:35am, the benchmark index was hovering at 173,808.99, an increase of 1,408.26 points or 0.82%.

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

PSX is expected to remain the best-performing asset class in 2026, supported by improving macroeconomic stability, easing inflationary pressures, and sustained domestic liquidity, according to Arif Habib Limited’s report titled “Pakistan Investment Strategy 2026: The Equity Edge Continues.”

During the previous week, Pakistan’s equity market closed on a historic note, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index extending its record-breaking rally to settle at 172,400.73 points, marking a week-on-week increase of 0.6%, underscoring sustained upward momentum as the market wrapped up the year-end phase at an all-time high.

Internationally, Asian stocks were at six-week highs on Monday, while the dollar hovered near its lowest in almost three months on expectations of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates next year, which have also sparked a fierce rally in precious metals.

Geopolitics was back on investors’ minds after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy were “getting a lot closer, maybe very close” to an agreement to end the war in Ukraine.

In stocks, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares was 0.27% higher, hitting its highest since October 3 in a strong start to the last week of the year. The index has risen over 25% this year, boosted by technology stocks as AI mania firmly took hold of investors.

South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.5% to a near two-month peak, taking its yearly gains to an eye-popping 74%, on pace for its strongest annual gain since 1999.

Japan’s Nikkei slipped 0.4%, while Taiwan stocks rose 0.3% to a record high.

This is an intra-day update