Buying at bourse, KSE-100 up nearly 500 points in early trade

Buying returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining nearly 500 points during the opening minutes of trading on Friday. At 9:25am, the benchmark index was hovering at 154,899.81, up by 478.38 points or 0.31%. Buying interest was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, chemical, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, and OMCs traded in the green. Index-heavy stocks, including HBL, MCB, MEBL, NBP, MARI, POL, PPL, PSO, SNGPL and SSGC, traded in the green. On Thursday, PSX extended its volatile streak as investor sentiment remained fragile amid persistent geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and uncertainty in global energy markets, prompting cautious trading across most sectors.