The 100-Index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed bullish trend on Monday, gaining, 1,529.17 points, a positive change of 1.36 percent, closing at 114,330.10 points as compared to 112,800.93 points on the last trading day. A total of 455,533,414 shares were traded during the day as compared to 455,394,404 shares the previous trading day, whereas the price of shares stood at Rs25.888 billion against Rs21.524 billion on the last trading day. As many as 440 companies transacted their shares in the stock market,176 of them recorded gains and 211 sustained losses, whereas the share price of 53 companies remained unchanged. The three top trading companies were At-Tahur Limited with 43,118,680 shares at Rs.28.00 per share, K-Electric Limited with 27,220,140 shares at Rs.4.79 per share and Fauji Cement with 25,755,312 shares at Rs.42.47 per share. Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited witnessed a maximum increase of Rs.102.50 per share closing at Rs.23,002.50 whereas runner-up was Abbott Laboratories (Pakistan) Limited with Rs.57.79 rise in its share price to close at Rs.1,098.54. Nestle Pakistan Limited witnessed a maximum decrease of Rs.45.84 per share price, closing at Rs.7,300.00, whereas the runner-up was Rafhan Maize Products Company Limited with Rs.28.58 decline in its per share price to Rs.9,365.75. Separately, Asian markets mostly fell Monday following a dour end to last week for Wall Street, where a disappointing round of data added to concerns about the world’s number one economy. The euro started the week on the front foot after conservatives won a closely watched election in Germany, with leader Friedrich Merz urging the speedy formation of a new coalition government. After a healthy performance on Friday, Asian investors struggled to maintain momentum after big losses in New York, where the Nasdaq lost more than two percent. The selling came after a report showed activity in the key services sector hit a 25-month low in February, while separate data indicated consumer sentiment dived almost 10 percent from January. Meanwhile, another study revealed that expectations for inflation hit a three-decade high. The readings follow a recent run of figures pointing to a softening of the labour market and prices continuing to rise faster than the Federal Reserve’s target rate. There have been increasing fears since Donald Trump regained the US presidency that his plans to impose import tariffs, and slash taxes, immigration and regulations would reignite inflation. That has led investors to scale back their expectations for how many interest rate cuts the Fed will make this year. Hong Kong advanced in Asian trade, building on Friday’s blockbuster rally fuelled by tech firms, particularly an eye-watering rise of more than 14 percent in ecommerce titan Alibaba. Sydney and Singapore also edged up but the rest of the region struggled. Shanghai, Seoul, Mumbai, Taipei, Manila, Jakarta, Bangkok and Wellington were all in the red. The euro got a lift from news that Merz’s CDU/CSU alliance won more than 28 percent, according to projections, crushing the Social Democrats (SPD) of outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz, which came third. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) came second, almost doubling its score to more than 20 percent. Merz said he wanted to quickly form a government, warning that as Trump is driving rapid and disruptive changes, “the world isn’t waiting for us”. “Markets will like that, presuming it is achieved,” said National Australia Bank’s senior forex analyst Rodrigo Catril. Oil prices extended losses after dropping as much as three percent on Friday as the weak US data sparked demand fears, while there are also growing expectations Trump will ease the sanctions that have limited Russian oil exports.