The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw positive sentiment return on Monday morning. The benchmark KSE-100 Index pushed above the 181,000 level in early trading. At 9:40 am, the index stood at 181,066.59 points. That marked a gain of 961.98 points, or 0.53 percent, from the previous close.
Key Highlights
- KSE-100 crosses 181,000 in early Monday trading, up 0.53 percent
- Buying seen across autos, cement, banks, fertilizer, and energy sectors
- Index-heavy stocks including MARI, OGDC, PPL, and HBL trade higher
- KSE-100 fell 0.7 percent last week amid Hormuz Strait and ceasefire concerns
- Brent crude holds steady near $88.50 a barrel after last week’s 6 percent jump
PSX Opened Positive 🚀
☀️ KSE 100 opened positive by +1027.96 points this morning. Current index is at 181,132.57 points (9:45 AM) pic.twitter.com/bgrf0tEWSs— Investify Pakistan (@investifypk) August 17, 2026
Buying Spreads Across Key Sectors
Investors showed renewed interest in several major sectors on Monday. These included automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, fertilizer, and oil and gas exploration companies. Oil marketing companies, power generation firms, and refineries also saw buying activity. Several index-heavy stocks traded in the green. These included MARI, OGDC, PPL, POL, HUBCO, HBL, MCB, MEBL, and UBL.
Last Week Told a Different Story
The market had a rougher run the previous week. Uncertainty over the US-Iran ceasefire weighed on investor sentiment. Concerns about oil supply routes through the Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea added further pressure. This happened even though Pakistan’s domestic fiscal and external-sector indicators stayed strong. The KSE-100 fell 1,325.41 points, or 0.7 percent week-on-week. It closed at 180,104.61 points on Friday.
Regional Markets Stay Cautious as Oil Prices Climb
Asian shares mostly moved sideways on Monday. Investors kept a close watch on oil prices, which rose sharply last week. The lack of progress toward ending the Iran war kept inflation risks tilted upward. Peace talks remained stalled. Oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz stayed halted as well.
Iran called on the United States to accept defeat on Saturday. President Trump, meanwhile, urged Americans to accept higher gasoline prices while the conflict continues. Separately, Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon killed at least eleven people on Saturday, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. Officials called it one of the deadliest incidents since Lebanon agreed to a US-mediated peace framework with Israel.
Brent crude held steady at $88.50 a barrel on Monday. That followed a 6 percent gain last week. US crude slipped 0.3 percent to $82.12 a barrel, after climbing 5.4 percent the week before. Elsewhere in the region, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan stayed flat. Japan’s Nikkei edged up 0.4 percent.
This is an intraday update.
