Daily Times

The 100-Index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed bullish trend on Monday, gaining 4,411.27 more points, a positive change of 4.03 percent, closing at 113,924.42 points as compared to 109,513.15 points on the last trading day.

A total of 857,834,976 shares were traded during the day as compared to 754,917,969 shares the previous trading day, whereas the price of shares stood at Rs 50.549 billion against Rs.39.424 billion on the last trading day.

As many as 463 companies transacted their shares in the stock market, 361 of them recorded gains and 62 sustained losses, whereas the share price of 40 companies remained unchanged.

The three top trading companies were WorldCall Telecom with 71,053,052 shares at Rs 1.72 per share, Cnergyico PK with 66,471,663 shares at Rs 6.79 per share and Pak Elektron with 38,651,653 shares at Rs.40.73 per share. Reliance Cotton Spinning Mills Limited witnessed a maximum increase of Rs.69.00 per share price, closing at Rs 759.00, whereas the runner-up was Rafhan Maize Products Company Limited with Rs 59.87 rise in its per share price to Rs 9,250.00.

Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited witnessed a maximum decrease of Rs 299.80 per share closing at Rs 21,100.00 followed by Sapphire Textile Mills Limited with Rs 46.70 decline to close at Rs.1,88.30. Separately, Asian markets rose Monday after big gains on Wall Street, with traders welcoming below-forecast US inflation data that tempered worries that the Federal Reserve will take a more hawkish tone with interest rates next year.

A holiday-thinned week got off to a healthy start after last week’s sell-off sparked by the US central bank’s outlook that suggested officials will not lower borrowing costs as much as previously hoped over the next 12 months. Sharp losses in reaction to the forecasts were pared after data showed the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index, the Fed’s preferred gauge of inflation, came in at 2.4 percent on-year in November.

While the reading was up slightly from October, it was lower than expected, providing some optimism that policymakers were winning the battle against prices and would have room to keep cutting rates. The figures led to a pullback in US Treasury bond yields that had jumped last week to their highest levels since May, helped by comments from Chicago Fed chief Austan Goolsbee, who expressed confidence that inflation was returning to the bank’s two percent target.

Still, there remains some trepidation among investors as Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House, pledging to cut taxes, slash regulations and impose tariffs on imports, which some economists warn could reignite inflation. All three main indexes in New York ended more than one percent higher.

Asia followed suit, with Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Seoul, Taipei and Manila all in the green.

The dollar also held losses suffered in the wake of the PCE data, with the yen, pound and euro all stronger than Thursday.

Investors were also cheered by news that US lawmakers had reached a deal to avert a Christmastime government shutdown following marathon talks on Friday.

The last-minute scramble came after Trump and billionaire Elon Musk pressured Republicans to abandon an earlier bipartisan funding compromise.

Lawmakers then spent several days trying to hammer out another deal, with massive halts to government services hanging in the balance. Non-essential operations would have ground to a halt if no deal had been struck, with up to 875,000 workers furloughed and 1.4 million more required to work without pay. “This agreement represents a compromise, which means neither side got everything it wanted,” President Joe Biden said on signing the bill on Saturday.

“But it rejects the accelerated pathway to a tax cut for billionaires that Republicans sought.”