Key Takeaways
- The KSE-100 Index gained nearly 700 points at the start of trading on Friday.
- Buying interest was observed across key sectors including automobile assemblers and cement.
- The index closed at 169,740.21, up 0.41% from the previous day.
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a strong opening on Friday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index surging nearly 700 points. At 9:35am, the index was trading at 169,740.21, marking a 0.41% increase from the previous day’s close.
Buying momentum continued across various sectors, with key areas such as automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, oil marketing companies (OMCs), and power generation seeing significant interest.
Notably, index-heavy stocks, including LUCK, MCB, MEBL, NBP, UBL, MARI, OGDC, POL, PPL, and PSO, were trading in the green, reflecting the overall positive sentiment.
On Thursday, the PSX staged a strong rebound, with the KSE-100 Index surging 1,021.40 points or 0.61% to close at 169,043.20 points. This improvement was driven by easing global oil prices and developments suggesting a possible de-escalation in the US-Iran conflict, which improved investor sentiment and encouraged fresh buying across key sectors.
Internationally, Asian stocks rose, and the dollar held its ground on Friday as investors grappled with global policymakers’ efforts to curb inflation. A dip in oil prices, which pushed Brent crude futures down 1% to $103.77 a barrel, improved sentiment ahead of an expected rate hike from the Bank of Japan.
The over six-month-long war in the Middle East continues to show few signs of ending, keeping oil prices above $100 per barrel and fanning inflation fears. Hopes of alternate ways for oil supply from the Middle East to reach markets pushed Brent crude futures down 1% to $103.77 a barrel, even as concerns about strikes between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthis lingered.
Traders also took cues from a rally on Wall Street overnight, led by beaten-down tech stocks. Bond prices steadied after another brutal selloff this week that took the 10-year US Treasury beyond 5% to its highest since 2007. It was last at 4.936%.
In Asia, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.55%. Japan’s Nikkei was 0.9% higher, while tech-heavy South Korea’s KOSPI surged 2%. These developments contributed to the positive sentiment in the PSX on Friday.
