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 trading session on Friday.
At close, the KSE-100 settled at 134,299.77, a gain of 517.42 points or 0.39%.
“This positivity can be attributed to continuous inflow from mutual funds on conversion from fixed income funds to equity funds, as indicated by National Clearing Company Limited data,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.
Top positive contribution to the index came from UBL, HUBC, MTL, KTML and PSO, it said.
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 KSE-100 Index gained a robust 1,205 points or 0.91% to settle at 133,782.35 points.
The KSE 100 index gained 1.78% on week-on-week basis.
“This weekly gain can be attributed to continuous buying by local mutual funds on new allocations, where as of yesterday`s close MTD net inflow by local mutual stands at $30 million,” Topline said.
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%.
Meanwhile, Pakistani rupee slightly improved against the US dollar, appreciating 0.04% in the inter-bank market on Friday. At close, the currency settled at 284.46, a gain of Re0.10.
Volume on the all-share index decreased to 765.08 million from 941.72 million recorded in the previous close.
The value of shares rose to Rs40.16 billion from Rs36.06 billion in the previous session.
B.O.Punjab was the volume leader with 94.13 million shares, followed by Aisha Steel Mill with 25.05 million shares, and Kohinoor Spining with 23.60 million shares.
Shares of 477 companies were traded on Friday, of which 220 registered an increase, 228 recorded a fall, while 29 remained unchanged.
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