PSX: KSE-100 Index closes marginally higher after range-bound trading

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed range-bound trading on Friday, as it swayed in both directions before closing the week’s last session marginally higher by 233.55 points.

The KSE-100 started the session negative, hitting an intra-day low of 165,956.51. The index swayed in both directions in the latter hours and managed to close in the session in the green.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 166,419.72, up by 233.55 points or 0.14%

“This range bound activity can be attributed to lack of triggers and elevated crude oil prices,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.

Top positive contribution to index came from SYS, UBL, MCB, BAHL and EFERT, as they cumulatively contributed 269 points to the index. On the other hand, OGDC, LUCK, MEBL, PTC and ENGROH lost value to weigh down on the index by 223 points, Topline said.

In a key development, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Thursday further extended the deadline for filing income tax returns for Tax Year 2026 to October 31, 2026, providing taxpayers an additional two weeks to submit their returns.

On Thursday, PSX extended its gains, supported by broad-based buying in key stocks. However, profit-taking in selected stocks at higher levels trimmed some intraday gains, while escalating Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia added to regional geopolitical concerns. The benchmark KSE-100 Index advanced by 768.66 points, or 0.46%, to close at 166,186.17 points.

Globally, Asian stocks rebounded on Friday following heavy selling in the previous session when investors dumped tech shares as questions about cloud company CoreWeave’s debt ​pile fuelled worries about the financing driving the AI boom.

Bond markets stabilised after yields plunged on Thursday as traders bought up Treasuries ‌and other safe-haven sovereign debt. The dollar limped towards its first weekly loss in five weeks as lower US yields eroded the currency’s appeal.

Gold eased back from Thursday’s high, while Brent crude drifted lower toward $105.

Japan’s tech-heavy Nikkei rose 1.8%, making back some of Thursday’s almost 5% tumble.

South Korea’s KOSPI climbed 2.8%, following a nearly 8% plunge.

Taiwan’s stock benchmark rose 0.7%, and Hong ​Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.1%. Mainland Chinese blue chips edged 0.3% higher.

US stock futures were lower, with tech-focused Nasdaq futures off 0.3% and ​S&P 500 futures down 0.1%, after the respective cash indexes notched small gains on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee stretched its marginal gains against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Friday. The local unit closed the day at 276.91, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback.

Volume on the all-share index decreased to 396.90 million from 517.60 million recorded in the previous close.

The value of shares declined to Rs18.68 billion from Rs23.57 billion in the previous session.

Pak Refinery was the volume leader with 38.42 million shares, followed by Cnergyico PK with 37.14 million shares, and K-Electric Ltd with 27.98 million shares.

Shares of 498 companies were traded on Friday, of which 211 registered an increase, 254 recorded a fall, and 33 remained unchanged.