Buying rally continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining over 1,000 points during the second half of the trading session on Friday.
At 4:20pm, the benchmark index was hovering at 162,012.41, an increase of 1,354.92 points or 0.84%.
Buying interest was observed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refinery. Index-heavy stocks, including OGDC, POL, PPL, PSO, WAFI, HBL and MCB, traded in the green.
On a corporate front, the warring Board of Directors of K-Electric on Thursday put off its meeting after one group walked out of the meeting after approval of the first item of the proposed agenda, well-informed sources told media.
The primary intention of directors representing the government and AsiaPak was to make a decision regarding the removal of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Syed Moonis Abdullah Alvi. The recent activities of some KE Board members have irritated Al-Jomaih Group of Saudi Arabia, which has already sent a legal notice of $2 billion to Islamabad.
On Thursday, PSX maintained its bullish trajectory with the benchmark index closing sharply higher as investor confidence strengthened on renewed optimism following merger and acquisition developments in the cement sector.
The KSE-100 Index advanced decisively, ending the session at 160,657.50 points after gaining 2,473.55 points or 1.56%.
Internationally, Asian shares joined a global selloff on Friday as hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials doused hopes for a US rate cut next month, while a still messy data calendar added to the angst, hitting bonds, the dollar and even gold.
Japan’s Nikkei tumbled 1.8% on Friday, Australia’s resources-heavy shares slid 1.5%, while South Korea plunged 2.3%.
China will report its monthly activity figures later in the day, after weak lending data flagged concerns from households and businesses to take on more debt amid economic uncertainties.
Overnight, Wall Street tumbled with steep losses in Nvidia and other AI heavyweights on valuation concerns, while Treasuries retreated as investors scaled back expectations of a rate cut from the Fed in December to just 51%, down from 63% a day earlier.
This is an intra-day update
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