Buying returns to bourse, KSE-100 settles above 176,000 level

After days of selling pressure, buying returned at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index closing in positive territory despite heavy late-session selling.

The market opened on a firm note and quickly moved higher, with the index climbing toward the 177,000 level. Buying interest was broad-based enough to push the benchmark to an intraday high of 177,108.66.

The trend changed sharply in the second half of the trading session as the KSE-100 fell from near 177,000 to below 176,000, hitting an intraday low of 175,934.99, indicating aggressive profit-taking.

Despite the sharp pullback, the market managed a modest recovery in the final minutes.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 176,094.11, up 546.13 points or 0.31%.

On Thursday, PSX extended its cautious spell as investors remained on the sidelines amid uncertainty surrounding ongoing diplomatic engagements between the United States and Iran over regional stability, resulting in a range-bound session that ended with modest losses.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index declined by 495.00 points, or 0.28%, to settle at 175,547.98 points.

Internationally, Asian markets rallied hard with Wall Street on Friday as South Korea’s ​battered market made a record comeback, stirring hopes that the recent selloff in AI-linked assets may be near an end.

Long-end U.S. Treasury yields held near 19-year highs while short-end yields eased, steepening the curve as doubts grow over the Federal Reserve’s ability to anchor inflation expectations.

South Korea’s Kospi leapt more than 10% on Friday, reversing steep ​losses from earlier in the week. Japan’s Nikkei similarly advanced 4.5%, and MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 4.6%.

That followed surges in ​AI heavyweights and overnight, lifting chip stocks broadly after upbeat earnings and forecasts from the pair eased concerns over hefty capital spending.

Despite Friday’s turnaround, the Kospi was still set to lose over 25% in July, marking its largest monthly loss since 1997.

The wild swings in the market had prompted South Korean authorities to rein in the leveraged products that have wreaked havoc and wiped out the savings of some retail investors.

Nasdaq futures were up 0.6% and S&P 500 futures added 0.3%. In Europe, EUROSTOXX 50 futures advanced 0.5%, while FTSE ‌futures and ⁠DAX futures rose 0.25% and 0.34%, respectively.

Chinese markets followed suit. China’s CSI AI index rose more than 7%. The Hang Seng Tech index advanced 0.5%.