The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a volatile session on Friday, as investor sentiment remained dented amid the escalating situation between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The benchmark KSE-100 Index closed the week with a loss of over 800 points.
The market opened lower and initially dipped to an intraday low of 165,811.87, shedding over 3,000 points, reflecting early selling pressure, before rebounding sharply to the intraday high of 169,379.97 as buyers stepped in.
In the final hours of trading, the index drifted lower and settled in the red.
At the end, the benchmark KSE-100 Index closed at 168,062.16, down by 830.92 points or 0.49%.
At least 133 Afghan Taliban operatives were killed, and more than 200 were injured after Pakistan’s security forces delivered an “immediate and effective response” to unprovoked cross-border firing, according to government updates.
In a post on X at around 4am, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said strikes took place in Kabul, Paktia and Kandahar, with 27 posts destroyed and 9 seized.
Furthermore, “two corps headquarters, three brigade headquarters, two ammunition depots, one logistics base, three battalion headquarters, two sector headquarters and 80+ tanks, artillery, and APCs (Armoured Personnel Carrier) were destroyed”, he added.
On Thursday, PSX staged a strong recovery with broad-based buying lifting key benchmark indices sharply higher, supported by improved investor sentiment and active participation in both ready and futures markets. The KSE-100 Index closed at 168,893.09 points, gaining 4,266.79 points or 2.59%.
Globally, dour sentiment persisted in the Asian trading day on Friday as concerns about technology company valuations weighed on shares and Middle East tensions kept energy markets on edge.
Japanese shares followed Wall Street lower after what appeared to be glowing results from AI sector bellwether Nvidia failed to impress investors. The yen and U.S. Treasuries rose, while gold held steady after a two-day advance.
An Omani mediator of U.S. and Iran nuclear talks gave an optimistic readout over the latest round of negotiations, but uncertainty still hung over energy markets with no sign of a breakthrough that would avert potential U.S. strikes.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS), opens new tab was down 0.4%, while Japan’s Nikkei stock index (.N225), opens new tab slid 0.8%.
Nvidia posted better-than-expected results for the January quarter on Wednesday and forecast current-quarter revenue above market estimates. But U.S. shares ended lower and the company’s stock was flat in after-hours trading.
U.S. equity futures slid in Asian trading, with the S&P 500 E-minis down 0.41% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 E-minis dropping 0.36%.
This is an intra-day update
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