The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) staged a late recovery on Monday to close marginally higher, reversing an earlier decline as investors weighed hopes of diplomatic progress in the Middle East against persistent selling pressure across key sectors. The benchmark KSE-100 index climbed 154.81 points, or 0.09%, to settle at 166,564.07 points, after remaining under pressure for much of the session. In the morning, the market opened the week on a cautious note, with selling emerging soon after trading began and the index slipping to 166,169.41 points at 9:34am, down 239.84 points, or 0.14%. The selling pressure deepened during the day, pulling the index to 165,776.85 points at 12:29pm, down 632.40 points, or 0.38%, from the previous close of 166,409.25 points. Read: Peace, stability in Mideast require joint efforts, Chinese president tells Omani sultan However, the market subsequently recovered, with the benchmark touching an intraday high of 166,989.76 points and a low of 165,585.42 points before settling in positive territory. The market's positive close came amid a more than 4% decline in global oil prices, as renewed hopes of diplomatic progress towards ending the US-Israeli war on Iran eased concerns over energy costs and pressure on Pakistan's import bill. Oil prices fell on Monday after Iranian and Qatari officials held a third consecutive day of talks aimed at ending the conflict, raising hopes of easing disruptions to Middle Eastern energy supplies. The absence of any meaningful military escalation over the weekend further supported sentiment in international markets. According to Arif Habib Limited (AHL), PSX made a flat start to the week with the KSE-100 trading on both sides of the tape. Some 41 shares rose while 58 fell with Mari Energies (+3.15%), Fauji Fertiliser (+0.92%) and Engro Holdings (+1.57%) contributing the most to index gains. Conversely, Attock Refinery (-10.0%), Oil & Gas Development Company (-1.66%) and Pakistan State Oil (-2.33%) were the biggest index drags. Meanwhile, all refineries traded down to lower limits as the government has shifted the impact of higher petrol (MS) import costs onto local refineries to avoid passing it on to consumers, as per the October 31 pricing notification. The ex-refinery MS price rises Rs15.13 a litre to Rs282.26 per litre, but this is fully offset by a Rs14.71 per litre reduction in petroleum levy (PL) collected through refineries and a Rs0.42 per litre lower IFEM, leaving the ex-depot price unchanged at Rs377.91 a litre. “With local refineries accounting for 30% of MS supply, we estimate a burden of Rs9.4 billion/month pre-tax (Rs5.9 billion post-tax) on the sector, excluding PARCO. The measure applies for 30 days; we assume the impact for one month (Nov) only,” it wrote. Also Read: PM Shehbaz directs SBP, FBR to resolve tax issues faced by SMEs, exporters Meanwhile, October CPI rose 9.6% year-on-year (YoY) as pressures remain a concern, with inflation still above the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) 5-7% target range with energy costs elevated due to the Middle East conflict. Resistance at 167.5-168k is the key level to watch over the coming sessions, AHL said. Cumulatively, trading volume decreased to 443.4 million shares from Friday’s close of 825.4 million. The value of traded shares stood at Rs17.7 billion. In total, shares of 496 companies were traded in the ready market. Of these, 137 stocks closed higher, 319 fell and 40 remained unchanged. Cnergyico Pk became the volume leader with trading in 93.2 million shares, losing Rs1.36 to close at Rs12.28.