After two consecutive days of selling pressure, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw a strong comeback as the benchmark KSE-100 Index closed higher by 928 points on Friday.
The KSE-100 started the session with some selling, hitting an intra-day low of 110,246.93.
However, buying soon returned to the PSX, taking the KSE-100 to an intra-day high of 112,043.77, followed by late-session selling that trimmed some of the gains.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 111,351.18, up by 927.86 points or 0.84%.
Buying was seen in key sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refineries. Index-heavy stocks including HUBCO, PSO, SHEL, SNGP, MARI, OGDC, PPL, MEBL, MCB and NBP traded in the green.
Renewed buying interest was observed at the bourse, with investors engaging in value picking following days of heavy selling.
On Thursday, PSX remained under pressure and closed in deep red due to heavy selling on investor concerns over security situation on the border and year-end portfolio adjustment. The KSE-100 plunged by 1,991.49 points or 1.77% and closed at 110,423.32 points.
Globally, Asian stocks wobbled on Friday while the dollar was steady, keeping the yen rooted near five-month lows in thin year-end trading as investors looked ahead to 2025 when the Federal Reserve is expected to be measured in its interest rate cuts.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan, was slightly higher at 574.88, on course for a nearly 9% gain this year. Japan’s Nikkei, rose 0.77% due to a weak yen, set for 19% rise in 2024.
China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index was little changed in early trading while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was 0.12% higher following a holiday on Thursday.
With only a handful of trading days remaining in the year, investor focus has switched to 2025, with the Fed’s policy path, the incoming Trump administration and its tariff-related policies and geopolitical worries in the spotlight.
Traders are pricing in 37 bps of easing next year with the next cut fully priced in for June.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee registered marginal decline against the US dollar, depreciating 0.04% in the inter-bank market on Friday. At close, the currency settled at 278.47 for a loss of Re0.10 against the greenback.
Volume on the all-share index increased to 815.92 million from 628.03 million on Thursday.
However, the value of shares declined to Rs32.92 billion from Rs33.58 billion in the previous session.
Fauji Foods Ltd was the volume leader with 104.43 million shares, followed by WorldCall Telecom with 74.13 million shares, and Cnergyico PK with 40.47 million shares.
Shares of 443 companies were traded on Friday, of which 223 registered an increase, 176 recorded a fall, while 44 remained unchanged.
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