Banking sector led the gain on Monday as a mixed trend was witnessed at the wider Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) with the benchmark KSE-100 crossing the 99,000 level with a gain of over 1,200 points during trading.

The KSE-100 started the session in the red, hitting an intra-day low of 97,137.63 at 9:40am.

However, buying returned to the bourse, pushing the index above the 99,000 level. It hit an intra-day high of 99,317.47 before retreating below 99,000.

At 2:20pm, the benchmark index was hovering at 98,399.76, an increase of 601.53 points or 0.62%.

Commercial banks, fertilizer, and pharmaceuticals led the charge with HBL, NBP, MEBL, UBL, MCB, HUBCO, PSO, SSGC and FFC in the green territory.

Investors are, meanwhile, also gauging political volatility on the local front.

Thousands of charged loyalists of jailed founding chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and ex-premier Imran Khan, from across the country, launched the “decisive” long march on Sunday towards the federal capital, removing all the barricades set up by the government to stop their way.

In a bid to foil the long march, the police also arrested hundreds of PTI supporters from twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad as residents took to the streets in big numbers to voice support to Khan’s final call, pressing the government to meet their three demands – release of PTI political members from jails, abolishment of 26th controversial Constitutional Amendment and return of what they call PTI’s “stolen mandate.”

Globally, Asian stocks rallied with US equity futures on Monday, while the dollar retreated against rivals as bond yields slid following the selection of fund manager Scott Bessent as the next U.S. Treasury secretary, with investors expecting he will be a voice for markets in Washington.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares climbed 1.6% as of 0143 GMT, and US S&P 500 futures pointed 0.5% higher to just shy of a record high, after a 0.3% gain for the cash index at the end of last week.

This is an intra-day update