The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed volatile trading on Friday, as the benchmark KSE-100 Index swayed in both directions before the closing the day marginally lower.
The KSE-100 started the session positive, hitting a record intra-day high of 120,796.67 for the first time in history.
However, the latter house witnessed selling pressure that pushed the index to an intra-day low of 118,718.26.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 118,791.66, marginally lower by 146.45 points or 0.12%.
Earlier during the intra-day trading, strong buying interest was observed in key sectors including cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and refineries. Index-heavy stocks including ARL, NRL, MARI, PPL, DGKC, HBL, MCB, MEBL, NBP and UBL traded in the green.
The rally had followed the government’s move to provide significant relief to inflation-weary masses. On Thursday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced a decrease in electricity prices for residential consumers by Rs7.41 per unit, while the rates for industrial consumers were lowered by Rs7.69 per unit.
He also pledged to further reduce electricity prices. However, the prime minister added that his team had to make “hectic efforts” to convince the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to lower the rates of electricity to provide relief to the masses.
“Despite falling global markets, PSX crosses 120k to a new high amid expectations of better earnings after the government cut power rates and promises to resolve circular debt,” said Mohammed Sohail, CEO of Topline Securities earlier.
PM Shehbaz expresses satisfaction
PM Shehbaz lauded the equities’ performance, saying that “the positive trajectory of business at the PSX reflects the growing confidence of traders and investors in the government’s economic policies”.
“A significant reduction in electricity tariffs has been made, which will not only provide relief to domestic consumers but is also a welcome development for the business community and industries,” the prime minister said in a statement.
He added that the government was prioritising the provision of all facilities to create a positive environment for business and investment in the country.
On Thursday, the PSX staged a strong comeback as the KSE-100 closed at an all-time high of 118,938.
Global rout continues
Globally, stock indexes tumbled on Thursday, with the S&P 500 down more than 4%, while the US dollar weakened and oil prices fell more than 6% as President Donald Trump’s drastic US trade tariffs stoked fears of a global recession and led investors to seek safe-haven assets like bonds and the yen.
A new baseline 10% tariff on imported goods plus some eye-watering reciprocal tariffs on dozens of countries that Trump said had unfair trade barriers left traders rattled by their severity.
Investors fear a full-blown trade dispute could trigger a sharp global economic slowdown and drive up inflation, with the latest round of US trade tariffs hitting a world economy barely recovered from the post-pandemic inflation surge and dealing with geopolitical strife.
The Nasdaq was down more than 5%, with technology-related shares among the day’s biggest drags. Apple fell 9.2%, hit by the tariffs on China – the base for much of its manufacturing. Amazon.com was down 7.9%, Microsoft was off 1.5%, and Nvidia was down 6.9%.
The losses come after trillions of dollars were already wiped off the “Magnificent Seven” tech giants this year as worries have mounted. The CBOE Volatility index, known as Wall Street’s fear gauge, touched a three-week high at 26.91 points. The S&P 500 energy sector was down more than 6% as oil prices sank.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee saw marginal improvement against the US dollar, appreciating 0.03% in the inter-bank market on Friday. At close, the currency settled at 280.47, a gain of Re0.09 against the greenback.
Volume on the all-share index increased to 553.67 million from 422.70 million recorded in the previous close.
The value of shares rose to Rs35.49 billion from Rs28.21 billion in the previous session.
Cnergyico PK was the volume leader with 61.33 million shares, followed by Bank Al-Falah with 43.52 million shares, and B.O.PunjabXD with 21.77 million shares.
Shares of 457 companies were traded on Friday, of which 151 registered an increase, 258 recorded a fall, while 48 remained unchanged.
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