Buying continues at bourse, KSE-100 settles with nearly 900 points gain
- Benchmark index settles at 185,372.20
The Pakistan Stock Exchange continued its rally, gaining nearly 500 points on Friday, driven by buying interest in key sectors despite a widening trade deficit. Global markets showed a mixed trend.
- Pakistan Stock Exchange's continued rally and key sectors.
- Pakistan's widening trade deficit in the financial year 2025-26.
- Global market reactions to the latest US jobs report.
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a volatile trading session on Friday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index closing the week up nearly 900 points.
Trading was weak in the first half, with the index sliding below the previous close of 184,520.96 and hitting an intraday low of 184,462.65.
The market then stabilised and traded in a narrow band through mid-day. Sentiment turned sharply positive in the final hours of trading, triggering a steep rally that lifted the KSE-100 to an intraday high of 185,668.65.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 185,372.20, up by 851.24 points or 0.46%.
Pakistan’s trade deficit widened by 21.57% and reached $39.471 billion during the financial year 2025-26 as compared to $32.467 billion in the previous year, driven by a decline in exports and a sharp increase in imports, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Thursday.
On Thursday, the PSX extended its winning streak as easing geopolitical tensions between the United States and Iran, coupled with a sharp decline in international oil prices, continued to underpin investor confidence. However, late-session profit-taking erased part of the day’s gains, leaving the benchmark index with a modest positive close.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index settled at 184,520.96 points, gaining 470.86 points or 0.26%.
Globally, stocks made a mixed start to the Asian trading session on Friday after a lukewarm US jobs report poured cold water on the prospect of an imminent rate hike from the Federal Reserve.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fluctuated between gains and losses, edging up 0.1% after two consecutive days of declines.
South Korea’s Kospi weighed on the regional benchmark in sympathy with sharp falls in chipmakers in US trading.
S&P 500 e-mini futures and Nasdaq e-mini futures were both up 0.1%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 1%.
U.S. job growth slowed sharply in June and payroll gains for the prior two months were revised lower, according to data released on Thursday, pointing to a cooling labour market. The unemployment rate dropped to 4.2% last month from 4.3% in May as workers left the labour force, pushing the participation rate to the lowest level in more than five years.
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