Negative sentiments returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), tracking a global market slump, as the benchmark KSE-100 Index shed nearly 450 points during the first half of the trading session on Friday.
At 12:30pm, the benchmark index was hovering at 115,765.00, a decrease of 424.21 points or 0.37%.
Selling pressure was observed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refineries. Index-heavy stocks including MARI, OGDC, PPL, POL, PSO, SNGPL, HUBCO, MEBL, NBP and MCB traded in the red.
Pakistan has expressed reservations over the broader consequences of controversial US tariff policies on global trade, particularly their adverse effects on developing economies.
At his weekly media briefing on Thursday, Foreign Office Spokesperson Ambassador Shafqat Ali Khan stressed the consistent nature of global commerce and called for a swift and mutually beneficial resolution.
On Thursday, PSX closed higher, supported by gains in regional capital markets after US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs.
Internationally, global stocks slumped and the dollar sank further on Friday, while a manic bond selloff took hold in a brutal end to the week of tit-for-tat worldwide tariffs that have fed fears of a deep recession and shaken investor confidence in U.S. assets.
The anxiety has sparked a rush into safe havens, sending the Swiss franc soaring to a decade high against the dollar, and gold to a new peak after a brief but massive relief rally following U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to temporarily lower tariffs on many countries.
The selloff in US Treasuries picked up pace during Asian hours, with the 10-year note yield rising to 4.475%, gaining over 40 basis points in the week, the biggest increase since 2001, LSEG data showed.
Analysts and investors across the globe have pointed to this week’s sharp sell-off in Treasuries and weakness in the dollar as evidence that confidence in the world’s biggest economy has been shaken.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei tumbled 4.5% on the day, while stocks in South Korea fell 1.7%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.5% lower.
US futures for S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell about 1% each after a sharp drop overnight.
Investors are grappling with worries over the escalating Sino-US trade war after Trump ratcheted up tariffs on Chinese imports, raising them effectively to 145%.
China has hit back, hiking its tariffs on the U.S. with each Trump increase, raising fears that Beijing may jack up duties above the current 84%.
This is an intra-day update
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