PSX: KSE-100 slips lower, sheds over 350 points after early gains fade
- Benchmark index settles at 167,089.27
The Pakistan Stock Exchange rose over 600 points, driven by improved sentiment after President Trump's statement on not attacking Iran, despite global market concerns over oil prices and AI investment.
- Pakistan Stock Exchange's KSE-100 Index performance.
- Impact of US President Trump's statement on Iran.
- Global market trends, oil prices, and AI investment.
A volatile trading session was observed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), as the KSE-100 index remained under pressure throughout Friday’s session, settling with a loss of over 350 points on Friday.
The index opened near the day’s upper levels and initially traded around 168,000 points, hitting an intraday high of 168,134.12, but selling pressure gradually dragged it lower through the morning.
It continued to decline towards midday, briefly stabilising before a sharp drop in the afternoon pushed it towards the intraday low of 166,837.72.
The index subsequently staged a partial recovery, rebounding towards 167,300 points, but failed to sustain the gains.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 167,089.27, down 352.63 points or 0.21%.
On Thursday, a sharp rise in global crude oil prices amid heightened Middle East geopolitical risks triggered widespread profit-taking at the PSX. The benchmark KSE-100 Index declined 1,138.50 points, or 0.68%, to close at 167,441.91 points.
Globally, Asian stocks slipped on Friday and were poised for a second straight weekly drop as investors fretted about elevated energy prices, bond market ructions and the huge sums needed to fund AI investment.
Brent crude futures were at $103.70 per barrel in Asian hours after surging more than 4% in the previous session on concerns over the war in the Middle East that has fanned inflation worries and led to higher rates across the globe.
President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the US will not launch an attack on Iran before November’s US midterm elections, although traders remained sceptical of any progress being made to end the war.
In stocks, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.16%, set for an over 1% drop for the week. Markets in South Korea and Taiwan were closed for a holiday. Japan’s Nikkei fell more than 1%.
Tech stocks led Wall Street’s main indexes lower overnight after a report that OpenAI’s annualised revenue was $20 billion less than the company previously signalled hit sentiment.
Investors were also weighing a massive round of fundraising that appears to be on the way, with SpaceX, Broadcom and Oracle all expected to raise billions to buy high-end AI chips.
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