Volatile trading at bourse, KSE-100 sheds nearly 700 points

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed volatile trading on Friday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index closing the week’s last session lower by nearly 700 points.

During the day, the market traded within a wide range of 1,848 points, touching an intra-day high of 172,102.91 points before slipping to a low of 170,254.64 points.

Selling pressure intensified in the latter half of the session, erasing early gains and dragging the index into negative territory by the end.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 170,478.94, down by 696.56 points or 0.41%.

“The cautious market activity was largely driven by limited progress in US-Iran peace negotiations this week. Meanwhile, renewed tensions in the region persisted as clashes continued despite the fragile ceasefire established in April, while ongoing hostilities in Lebanon further weighed on investor sentiment,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.

Top positive contribution to the index came from PSX, JVDC, KTML, MTL and NPL, as they cumulatively contributed 138 points to the index, on the other hand UBL, OGDC, PPL, MCB and MEBL, lost value to weigh down on the index by 476 points, it said.

On Thursday, PSX extended its gains as cautious optimism surrounding a potential diplomatic breakthrough between the United States and Iran encouraged selective buying in heavyweight stocks, helping the benchmark index close firmly in positive territory. The KSE-100 Index gained 984.86 points, or 0.58%, to close at 171,175.51 points.

The KSE-100 Index declined by 2.0% week-on-week, “primarily due to the lack of significant progress in US-Iran peace negotiations and investors’ cautious stance ahead of the FY27 federal budget announcement”, Topline said.

“Ongoing geopolitical uncertainty and budget-related concerns weighed on market sentiment, prompting profit-taking and limiting risk appetite.”

Internationally, Asian share markets slid on Friday ​as investors took profits on technology stocks and turned defensive ahead of the weekend, wary of a flare-up in Middle East hostilities amid U.S.-Iran peace talks remaining in limbo.

Hezbollah rejected a new ceasefire in Lebanon on Thursday, and Israel said it would not withdraw troops from the country, undermining U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to halt fighting there and reach a peace deal with Tehran.

Meanwhile, an AI-driven rally that boosted stocks earlier ​in the week fizzled out as chipmaker Broadcom reported underwhelming results.

All that left MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down 1.6% in early Asia trade. South Korea’s tech-heavy Kospi slid more than 6% and Japan’s Nikkei ⁠fell 1.3%.

Nasdaq futures fell 1% and S&P 500 futures eased 0.5%, after a mixed session on Wall Street overnight. EUROSTOXX 50 futures dipped 0.2%, while DAX futures lost 0.5% ​and FTSE futures were flat.

Oil prices were little changed on Friday as traders awaited more clarity on U.S.-Iran negotiations, ​though were set for a weekly gain as hostilities earlier in the week raised concerns of a prolonged energy shock.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee appreciated against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Friday. At close, the local currency settled at 278.41, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback.

Volume on the all-share index increased to 727.17 million from 697.16 million recorded in the previous close.

The value of shares rose to Rs26.75 billion from Rs26.13 billion in the previous session.

TPL Properties was the volume leader with 42.06 million shares, followed by TPL Corp Ltd with 41.99 million shares, and Pace (Pak) Ltd with 41.81 million shares.

Shares of 491 companies were traded on Friday, of which 248 registered an increase, 205 recorded a fall, and 38 remained unchanged.