The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) observed a volatile and negative trading session on Friday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index closing in the red after swinging sharply during the day.
The index opened on a positive note and moved higher in early trade, touching an intra-day high of 186,180.32 points. However, the momentum was short-lived as the market soon came under selling pressure, erasing early gains.
By midday, the benchmark index had slipped into negative territory and moved sideways for a brief period before a sharp dip in the second half of the trading session amid aggressive profit-taking, dragging the KSE-100 to an intra-day low of 183,700.83.
At close, the KSE-100 Index settled at 184,409.67 points, down by 1,133.34 points or 0.61%.
The inflow of overseas workers’ remittances into Pakistan stood at $3.59 billion in December 2025, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) data showed on Friday.
On Thursday, PSX witnessed a broad-based corrective session as investors engaged in profit-taking following a sharp rally that had lifted the market to historic highs over the past several sessions. The benchmark KSE-100 Index closed at 185,543.01 points, posting a decline of 975.70 points or 0.52%.
Globally, Asian stocks drifted lower, and the dollar stood tall on Friday ahead of a crucial jobs report, while investors girded for a Supreme Court ruling on the legality of President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariff that jolted markets last year.
Simmering geopolitical tensions across the globe boosted oil prices, as well as defence stocks, and will remain in traders minds as they weigh developments in Venezuela after U.S. forces in a dramatic military raid in Caracas on Saturday.
Much of the focus on Friday will be on the possible US Supreme Court ruling on tariffs. Striking down the tariffs could impact government revenue, pushing Treasury yields higher and unleashing new waves of volatility across markets.
For now, traders remain reluctant to place bets ahead of the market-moving events. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.3% in early trading, just below the record high it hit earlier in the week.
Japan’s Nikkei was up 0.8%, buoyed by the strong earnings and forecast from Fast Retailing, the operator of the Uniqlo clothing brand.
European stock futures rose 0.4%.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee registered an improvement against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Friday. At close, the local currency settled at 280.02, a gain of Re0.03 against the greenback.
Volume on the all-share index decreased to 1,033.8 million from 1,433.9 million recorded in the previous close. The value of shares declined to Rs52.92 billion from Rs91.34 billion in the previous session.
Fauji Foods Ltd was the volume leader with 75.81 million shares, followed by Hascol Petrol with 68.35 million shares, and Media Times Ltd with 56.23 million shares.
Shares of 483 companies were traded on Friday, of which 162 registered an increase, 271 recorded a fall, and 50 remained unchanged.
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