Selling pressure returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) following a positive opening, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding nearly 900 points during the first half of the trading session on Friday.
At 12pm, the benchmark index was hovering at 184,659.73, a decrease of 883.28 points or 0.48%.
Selling was seen in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refinery. Index-heavy stocks, including HUBCO, OGDC, POL, PPL, WAFI, MEBL, NBP and UBL, traded in the red.
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%.
This is an intra-day update
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