A volatile session was observed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding over 1,200 points on Friday.
At close, the bechmark index settled at 151,707.52, down by 1,200.45 points or 0.79%.
Selling was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and refinery. Index-heavy stocks, including CNERGY, MARI, OGDC, PPL, POL, and NBP, traded in the red.
The Foreign Office confirmed that the temporary Eid pause had ended, and military operations against targets in Afghanistan had resumed.
“This escalation on the western border is cooling the ‘peace broker’ hype and reminding investors of the persistent regional security premium,” said Behtari Capital on Friday.
On Thursday, PSX remained under intense selling pressure as persistent volatility in international oil prices and ongoing global uncertainty triggered broad-based declines across sectors. The KSE-100 Index closed at 152,907.97 points, falling by 5,405.48 points or 3.41%.
Globally, Asian stock markets were swept up in a global rout on Friday, tracking Wall Street lower as the threat of a protracted energy shock out of the war-torn Middle East sent borrowing costs spiralling higher.
Investors took a modicum of comfort from US President Donald Trump’s decision to extend his ultimatum to strike Iranian power plants by 10 days, after pushing back his initial 48-hour deadline by five days. Brent crude futures fell 1% to $107.07 a barrel, having jumped nearly 6% overnight.
However, movement in oil prices was small and reports that Trump was considering sending more troops only added to concern about the war escalating into a ground conflict, with no certainty that the Strait of Hormuz could be reopened to shipping soon.
Iran has dismissed a US proposal to end the conflict as “one-sided and unfair”.
Wall Street futures bounced 0.2% in Asia. Overnight, the Nasdaq Composite slumped 2.4% to be down nearly 11% from its record close on October 29, confirming it has been in a correction since then.
On Friday, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan tumbled 1.4% and was set for a weekly drop of 3%. Japan’s Nikkei skidded 1.3% and was down 0.9% for the week.
South Korea’s KOSPI plunged 3%, bringing its weekly loss to a staggering 8.5%. Chinese blue chips fell 1%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slipped 0.4%.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee registered marginal gain, appreciating 0.01 against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Friday. At close, the local currency settled at 279.17, a gain of Re0.03, against the greenback.
Volume on the all-share index declined to 435.51 million from 521.63 million recorded in the previous close.
The value of shares decreased to Rs23.99 billion from Rs27.14 billion in the previous session.
K-Electric Ltd was the volume leader with 56.99 million shares, followed by F. Nat.Equities with 27.18 million shares, and TPL REIT Fund I with 19.73 million shares.
Shares of 478 companies were traded on Friday, of which 126 registered an increase, 287 recorded a fall, and 65 remained unchanged.
American Dollar Exchange Rate