Buying rally continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE 100 index gaining over 2% during trading on Friday.
The index opened with strong buying that continued throughout the session.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 173,939.01, up by 4,027.06 points or 2.37%.
“This positivity can be attributed to statement by US President Donald Trump, where he claimed that Iran has made concessions in an ongoing negotiation to end the seven-week war, while a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon increased the prospect of a broader peace,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market.
Top positive contribution to the index came from UBL, NBP, PPL, OGDC, LUCK and HBL, as they cumulatively contributed 1,926 points to the index, it added.
KSE-100 Index rose by 4% on a week-on-week basis.
The rally was “driven by improving sentiment as news suggested that a peace deal between the US and Iran could be within reach. This optimism followed expectations of a second round of negotiations in Islamabad, where both sides have shown restraint and a willingness to de-escalate tensions,” Topline said.
On Thursday, the KSE-100 Index exhibited robust performance during the session, gaining 1,392.01 points or 0.83% to close at 169,911.95 points, compared to the previous close of 168,519.94 points
Meanwhile, Asian stocks were poised for a second week of strong gains and MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.6%, but remained close to its highest since March 2, the first trading day after the Iran war broke out.
The index is up 14.5% in April after dropping 13.5% in March. Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.9% in early trading after hitting a record high on Thursday. Almost all stock markets are back to levels before the war erupted at the end of February.
For Andrew Chorlton, CIO for public fixed income at M&G, the last two weeks have been surprising in how quickly markets have been willing to look through the conflict and energy shock, as per Reuters.
“There’s quite a strong contrast between what policymakers and central bankers are saying about the risks that this (conflict) is creating versus what the market is implying,” he said.
“That seems somewhat complacent,” Chorlton added. “It seems unlikely that there shouldn’t be some additional risk premium priced in, either to growth or to inflation.”
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 278.92, a gain of 0.03, against the greenback, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
Volume on the all-share index rose to 1,440.63 million from 972.71 million recorded in the previous close.
The value of shares increased to Rs67.99 billion from Rs43.93 billion in the previous session.
B.O.Punjab was the volume leader with 153.72 million shares, followed by K-Electric Ltd with 134.42 million shares, and Treet Battery Ltd with 77.60 million shares.
Shares of 486 companies were traded on Friday, of which 354 registered an increase, 101 recorded a fall, and 31 remained unchanged.
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