Buying continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining nearly 1% to close at a fresh record high on Friday.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 131,949.07, up by 1,262.41 points or 0.97%.
“This positivity in the market can be attributed to buying by institution on new allocation towards equity fund as indicated by National Clearing Company data,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.
Top positive contribution to the index came UBL, HBL, SYS, BAHL, MCB, NBP and MEBL, as they cumulatively contributed 1,289 points to the index.
On Thursday, the PSX extended its record-breaking rally as the government’s decision to slash National Savings Scheme rates, reduce industrial power tariffs, and accelerate deliberations on the privatisation of state-owned enterprises fueled market momentum. The KSE-100 surged to a fresh all-time high, rising by 342 points or 0.26% to close at 130,686.66 points.
On a weekly basis, the KSE-100 increased 6.09%.
“This positivity in market can be attributed to hefty buying by institutions on account of new liquidity being diverting towards equity on the back of lower yields and higher taxes on fixed income,” Topline said.
Internationally, most Asian equity markets struggled on Friday, despite record highs for Wall Street overnight, as US President Donald Trump’s deadline for trade deals loomed next week.
The dollar retraced some of Thursday’s gains with US markets already shut for the week, as traders considered the impact of the sweeping spending bill Trump is about to sign into law.
Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.3% as of 0152 GMT after flipping between gains and losses in early trading.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slumped 1.3%, while mainland Chinese blue chips edged slightly lower.
Taiwan’s equity benchmark shed early gains to decline 0.2%. South Korea’s KOSPI sank more than 1%.
US S&P 500 futures edged down 0.2%, following a 0.8% overnight advance for the cash index to a fresh all-time closing peak. Wall Street is closed on Friday for Independence Day.
Investors cheered a surprisingly robust jobs report on Thursday in sending all three of the main U.S. equity indexes climbing in a shortened session.
Following the close, the House narrowly approved Trump’s signature, 869-page bill, which would add $3.4 trillion to the nation’s $36.2 trillion debt, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Trump also said he would start sending out letters to trade partners with their tariff rates, as deals remained elusive ahead of the July 9 deadline.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee weakened against the US dollar, depreciating 0.04% in the interbank market on Friday. At close, the currency settled at 283.97, a loss of Re0.11.
Volume on the all-share index decreased to 733.08 million from 899.85 million recorded in the previous close.
The value of shares declined to Rs34.94 billion from Rs43.25 billion in the previous session.
WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 58.26 million shares, followed by Bank Makramah with 35.81 million shares, and Treet Corp with 29.72 million shares.
Shares of 473 companies were traded on Friday, of which 255 registered an increase, 177 recorded a fall, while 41 remained unchanged.
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