Selling returns to PSX, benchmark index down over 400 points
- KSE-100 Index was hovering at 181,326.54
After days of buying momentum, selling returned at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) amid concerns around the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding over 400 points during the first half of the trading session on Friday.
At 12pm, the benchmark index was hovering at 181,326.54, down by 450.05 points or 0.25%.
Selling was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies and OMCs. Index-heavy stocks, including MARI, OGDC, POL, PPL, PSO, SSGC, MCB, MEBL and NBP, traded in the red.
On Thursday, PSX extended its recovery as easing geopolitical tensions, lower oil price volatility and renewed institutional buying boosted investor confidence. The benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 1,761.66 points, or 0.98%, to settle at 181,776.60 points.
Globally, Asian shares held their breath on Friday for US jobs data that could prove pivotal for next month’s interest-rate decision by the Federal Reserve, while rising oil prices served as a reminder that Middle East tensions remain far from resolved.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan held flat and was down 0.4% for the week. Japan’s Nikkei dropped 0.9% although it was set for a weekly rise of 1.2%.
South Korea’s KOSPI slipped 0.5% and was down 5.0% for the week for a seventh straight week of declines. The index had doubled in the first half of the year, swept up by the blistering demand for AI-linked chip stocks. China’s CSI 300 rose 0.2%.
After bouts of volatility sparked by concerns over the durability of the AI-driven rally, investors are now squarely focused on the U.S. payrolls report due later in the day, which could prove crucial for the interest-rate outlook. Forecasts are centred on a rise of 80,000 jobs for July after a 57,000 gain in June, with the unemployment rate forecast to hold steady at 4.2%.
The stakes are high as markets cannot seem to make up their mind about how the Federal Reserve might move next month, with a rate hike seen as a coin toss.
This is an intraday update
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