Buying interest was observed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 crossing the 188,000 level during the opening minutes of trading on Friday.
At 9:30am, the benchmark index was hovering at 188,048.54, an increase of 360.38 points or 0.19%.
Buying was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refinery. Index-heavy stocks, including ARL, HUBCO, OGDC, POL, PPL, SNGPL, FFC, MCB, MEBL, NBP and UBL, traded in the green.
On Thursday, the Pak-Qatar General Takaful Limited (PKGTL) – the country’s first initial public offering (IPO) of the year 2026 – created history by recording “the highest oversubscription” of 21 times in the rupee term at the PSX.
On Thursday, PSX staged a modest recovery as select buying helped the market regain lost ground following the previous session’s sharp sell-off. Sentiment improved across most segments, allowing benchmark indices to close higher by the end of the session. The benchmark KSE-100 Index rose by 654.90 points, or 0.35%, to close at 187,688.16 points.
Internationally, stocks advanced in Asian trading on Friday after the Bank of Japan left benchmark interest rates on hold, while gold and silver surged to new peaks as the US dollar came under renewed pressure.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was last up 0.5%, while the Nikkei 225 climbed 0.3%. S&P 500 e-mini futures fluctuated between gains and losses, trading up 0.2%.
The yen weakened 0.1% against the greenback after the BOJ’s decision, last trading at 158.61 yen per dollar.
Stocks on Wall Street on Thursday extended their rebound for a second day after US President Donald Trump walked back earlier threats of tariffs on European goods and ruled out taking control of Greenland by force. The S&P 500 climbed 0.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite rallied 0.9%.
This is an intra-day update
American Dollar Exchange Rate