The Pakistan Stock Exchange continued its record-setting run, buoyed by strong institutional buying, renewed interest in blue-chip stocks, and investor optimism. The benchmark KSE-100 Index crossed the 140,000 level during the opening minutes of trading on Friday.
At 9:35am, the benchmark index was hovering at 140,386.37 level, an increase of 1,720.88 points or 1.24%.
Buying was observed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies and OMCs. Index-heavy stocks including MARI, OGDC, PPL, POL, ARL, MCB, MEBL and UBL traded in the green.
Market experts noted that the positivity is expected to continue, supported by positive economic indicators.
“Momentum is expected to continue amid the upcoming result season. However, there will be episodes of profit-taking as the market move towards consolidation,” Sana Tawfik, Head of Research at Arif Habib Limited, told media.
On Thursday, PSX extended its bullish momentum, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining 2,285 points or 1.68% percent to a new all-time closing high of 138,665.50.
Internationally, Asian shares tracked Wall Street higher on Friday as still-strong US economic data and robust corporate earnings offset tariff worries, while the yen headed toward a second successive week of loss ahead of Japan’s upper house election.
Overnight, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq again closed at record highs as US data, including retail sales and jobless claims, beat forecasts, indicating a modest improvement in the economy that should give the Federal Reserve time to gauge the inflation impact from higher US tariffs.
Streaming giant Netflix beat Wall Street’s lofty expectations for second-quarter earnings in part due to a weaker US dollar. Its share price, however, fell 1.8% in after-hours trading, with analysts saying much of the growth had already been priced in.
On Friday, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.8% to its highest since late 2021, bringing the weekly gain to 1.7%.
Japan’s Nikkei, however, slipped 0.2%, and the yen was at 148.54 per dollar, down about 0.7% this week after polls showed Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s coalition was in danger of losing its majority in the election on Sunday.
This is an intra-day update
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