The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed mixed trading on Friday, as its benchmark KSE-100 Index swayed in both directions before closing the last session of the week lower by 313 points.
The KSE-100 faced range-bound trading in the first half, followed by strong buying in the latter hours, which pushed the index to an intra-day high of 120,506.18.
However, selling returned in the final hours to erase the intra-day gains and pushed the index into the negative territory.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 119,649.14, down by 312.77 points or 0.26%.
“This lackluster activity can be attributed to lack of trigger and investor`s preference to remain on sideline before the weekend after index gained to close at its ever high level,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.
Top positive contribution to the index acme from ENGROH, SYS, BAHL, UBL and BAFL, as they cumulatively contributed 271 points to the index. On the other hand top negative contribution to the index came from FFC, LUCK, MARI, OGDC, PSO and EFERT, as they lost value to weigh down on the index by 476 points to the index.
On Thursday, buying rally continued at the PSX with the KSE-100 gaining over 1% to close all-time high of 119,962 level.
On week-on-week basis, the KSE-100 gained 11.64% on ceasefire between Pakistan and India with mediation from the US and the approval of loan tranche for Pakistan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Pakistan’s current account (C/A) posted slight surplus of $12 million in April 2025, against massive surplus of $1.2 billion (revised) last month, data released on Friday by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed. On year-on-year (YoY) basis, the C/A decreased 96% against a surplus of $315 million (revised) recorded in the same month last year.
In a bid to attract investment and promote exports, the federal government on Friday decided to significantly decrease import duties, including a phased elimination of additional customs duty (ACD) and regulatory duty (RD).
As per a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), PM Shehbaz Sharif has directed the abolition of ACD, which currently ranges from 2% to 7%, and RD, which currently ranges from 5% to 90%, over the next four to five years.
Moreover, Pakistan on Friday launched its first Sovereign Domestic Green Sukuk worth Rs30 billion at the PSX, pushing the share of Shariah-compliant financing in the country’s total domestic debt to 14%, announced Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb. Pakistan’s domestic debt stands at Rs37 trillion, of which Rs5 trillion—approximately 14%—is Sukuk-based debt.
Aurangzeb also informed that Pakistan was in the process of “restructuring and reorganising” its debt profile in line with global standards.
“In this regard, you will be hearing about various innovative funding products for domestic and as well as for international investors”, he said.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee saw a marginal decline against the US dollar, depreciating 0.02% in the inter-bank market on Friday. At close, the local currency settled at 281.66, a loss of Re0.05 against the greenback.
Volume on the all-share index decreased to 572.29 million from 698.96 million recorded in the previous close.
The value of shares declined to Rs29.03 billion from Rs39.09 billion in the previous session.
At-Tahur Ltd was the volume leader with 44.63 million shares, followed by Cnergyico PK with 32.29 million shares, and Lotte Chemical with 28.64 million shares.
Shares of 465 companies were traded on Friday, of which 206 registered an increase, 209 recorded a fall, while 50 remained unchanged.
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