Stocks open strong, KSE-100 up 1,700 points in early trade

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) opened on a strong note, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining nearly 1,700 points during the opening minutes of trading on Monday. At 9:35am, the benchmark index was hovering at 186,786.74, an increase of 1,687.91 points or 0.91%. Buying interest was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refinery. Index-heavy stocks, including ARL, HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, POL, PPL, PSO, SNGPL, SSGC, MCB, MEBL and NBP, traded in the green. Analysts attributed the buying rally to expectations of a policy rate cut in the upcoming Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, which is scheduled for 26 January 2026.