Stocks up nearly 3% in Pakistan on Middle East diplomacy hopes

Positive momentum returned at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday, amid reports of a potential diplomatic breakthrough, with mediating nations, including Pakistan, working to convene high-level talks in Islamabad as early as this week to ease tensions in the Middle East. At 9:10am, the benchmark KSE-100 Index was hovering at 157,207.89, up by 4,467.52 points or 2.92%. Buying was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and power generation. Index-heavy stocks, including DGKC, HBL, MCB, FFC, MARI, OGDC, POL, PPL and PSO traded in the green.