Daily Times

The 100-Index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed bullish trend on Monday, gaining 1,917.63 points more points, a positive change of 1.89 percent, closing at 103,274.95 points as compared to 101,357.32 points on the last trading day.

A total of 1,556,252,523 shares were traded during the day as compared to 915,509,804 shares the previous trading day, whereas the price of shares stood at Rs 47.097billion against Rs. 35.978 billion on the last trading day.

As many as 462 companies transacted their shares in the stock market, 339 of them recorded gains and 85 sustained losses, whereas the share price of 38 companies remained unchanged. The three top trading companies were WorldCall Telecom with 213,514,857 shares at Rs 1.46 per share, Cnergyico PK with 196,907,321 shares at Rs 5.72 per share and Fauji Foods Limited with 68,325,507 shares at Rs.13.62 per share.

Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited witnessed a maximum increase of Rs.270.00 per share price, closing at Rs.19,800.01, whereas the runner-up was Services Industries Limited with Rs 134.94 rise in its per share price to Rs 1.484.30.

Ismail Industries Limited witnessed a maximum decrease of Rs 38.28 per share closing at Rs 1,599.82 followed by Pakistan Tobacco Company Limited with Rs 20.23 decline to close at Rs1,214.96.

Separately, markets rose across Asia on Monday with traders cheered by healthy Chinese data, while the euro and Paris stocks tumbled as a budget standoff in France fuelled concerns about the eurozone’s second-biggest economy.

Traders began the month on the front foot after a rollercoaster ride since Donald Trump’s re-election and warning that he will hit China, Canada and Mexico with hefty tariffs. They took their cue from New York, where the Dow and S&P 500 both ended at record highs in a holiday-shortened session.

Hong Kong and Shanghai were among the best performers after data showed Chinese manufacturing activity expanded at a faster clip than expected in November.

The purchasing managers index figures provided some hope that the world’s number-two economy was turning a corner after a long-running slowdown, with analysts pointing to a raft of support measures unveiled at the end of September.

“The last two months of PMI data offered early signs of green shoots following the recent policy pivot and subsequent stimulus programmes,” said Anna Zhou and Helen Qiao at Bank of America Global Research.

“We expect policymakers to step up easing measures next year, including the continuation of the equipment upgrade and consumer goods subsidy programmes, which should help support the manufacturing sector amid deteriorating external demand.”

Some commentators also pointed to optimism that Trump could take a more pragmatic approach to tariffs, with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum saying after a phone call with the Republican: “There will not be a potential tariff war.”

Still, investors were keeping a wary eye on developments as the US president-elect puts his cabinet together. “Advanced Northeast Asian economies consistently run merchandise trade surpluses with the US,” said analysts at Moody’s Analytics. “While falling short of China’s $280 billion surplus with the US, or the EU’s $207 billion surplus, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan each run surpluses large enough to notice, putting them in the firing line of new tariffs.”

There were also gains on Monday in Sydney, Mumbai, Singapore, Taipei, Manila and Bangkok. Tokyo rose as the yen held recent gains around 150 per dollar, as bets increase on a Bank of Japan interest rate hike after last week’s forecast-topping Tokyo inflation report.

BoJ Governor Kazuo Ueda said in an interview with the Nikkei published Sunday that increases were “nearing in the sense that economic data are on track”.

Paris stocks shed more than one percent and the euro sat around 14-month lows on concerns about France’s budget standoff.

Prime Minister Michel Barnier faces the risk of being deposed by a hostile National Assembly as his government presents a social security financing plan Monday that has the opposition up in arms.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen said in a Sunday newspaper that her party would not necessarily vote to topple Barnier’s government — so long as he agreed to negotiate.

Le Pen’s parliamentary bloc holds the key to the survival of the minority centre-right administration and in an interview with La Tribune Dimanche, she insisted her position was to “remain constructive”.

But if Barnier refused to negotiate with her party, he would have taken the “decision to trigger the vote of no confidence” himself, she said.

Shares in London and Frankfurt opened slightly lower.