Buying rally continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index crossing the 134,000 level amid a gain of over 500 points during the opening minutes of trading on Friday.
At 9:50am, the benchmark index was hovering at 134,452.33 level, a gain of 669.99 points or 0.5%.
Buying was observed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, power generation, refinery, oil and gas marketing companies. Index-heavy stocks, including ARL, PRL, HUBCO, PSO, SNGPL and SSGC traded in the green.
On Thursday, the PSX staged an impressive comeback as bullish sentiment returned to the bourse. Investor confidence was visibly restored, driven by optimism over the upcoming corporate results season, with falling longer-term yields of government bonds.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index gained a robust 1,205 points or 0.91% to settle at 133,782.35 points.
Internationally, US and European stock futures dipped in Asia on Friday after President Donald Trump stepped up tariff threats against Europe and Canada, restraining an early rally in regional share markets.
The US dollar gained on the euro and the Canadian currency as Trump issued a letter late on Thursday stating that a 35% tariff rate on all imports from Canada would apply from August 1, adding the European Union would receive a letter by Friday.
The US president, whose global wave of tariffs has upended businesses and policymaking, floated a blanket 15% or 20% tariff rate on other countries, a step up from the current 10% baseline rate.
Both Nasdaq futures and S&P 500 futures fell about 0.4%. EUROSTOXX 50 futures also dropped 0.4%.
The euro slipped 0.2% to $1.1676, while the dollar gained 0.3% to C$1.3695.
Earlier in the week, Trump pushed back his tariff deadline of July 9 to August 1 for many trading partners to allow more time for negotiations, but broadened his trade war, setting new rates for a number of countries, including allies Japan and South Korea, along with a 50% tariff on copper.
Joseph Capurso, head of international economics at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said the tariff rate of 35% on Canada is not as bad as feared because most of the imports are still subject to exemptions under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
The MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan wobbled but was last up 0.5% on Friday, bringing the weekly gain to 0.7%.
This is an intra-day update
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