The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed volatile trading on Friday, as its benchmark KSE-100 Index swayed in both directions before closing the day nearly flat.
The KSE-100 started the session positive, but soon witnessed selling pressure that put the index to an intra-day low of 119,872.16.
However, the bulls regained momentum in the final hours and brought the index back to the green.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 120,023.24, marginally up by 20.65 points or 0.02%.
“KSE-100 lndex after opening on a positive note, traded in positive zone during the most part of trading session on news that Trump administration has decided to exercise restraint and will decide on US action in Israel-Iran conflict within two weeks,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.
“However, due lack of confidence surrounding the conflict, KSE-100 Index came down during the latter hours of the trade to close on a flat note.”
Top positive contribution to the index came from HUBC PA, SYS PA, UBL PA, OGDC PA, MLCF PA and PPL PA, as the cumulatively contributed 168 points to the index. Whereas top negative contribution to the index came from PKGP PA, TRG PA, FFC PA, PSEL PA, EFERT PA and MCB PA, as they cumulatively contributed 180 points to the index.
On Thursday, the PSX experienced another downbeat trading day, with most key indices registering declines despite some individual company gains. The KSE-100 index dropped by 463.34 points or 0.38% to end the day at 120,002.59.
Globally, share markets in Asia struggled for direction on Friday as fears of a potential U.S. attack on Iran hung over markets, while oil prices were poised to rise for a third straight week on the escalating Israel-Iran conflict.
Overnight, Israel bombed nuclear targets in Iran, and Iran fired missiles and drones at Israel as a week-old air war intensified with no sign yet of an exit strategy from either side.
The White House said President Donald Trump will decide in the next two weeks whether the U.S. will get involved in the Israel-Iran war. The U.S. President is facing uproar from some of his MAGA base over a possible strike on Iran.
Brent fell 2% on Friday to $77.22 per barrel, but is still headed for a strong weekly gain of 4%, following a 12% surge the previous week.
Still, a cautious mood prevailed in markets with Nasdaq futures and S&P 500 futures both 0.3% lower in Asia. U.S. markets were closed for the Juneteenth holiday, offering little direction for Asia.
The MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.1% but was set for a weekly drop of 1%. Japan’s Nikkei slipped 0.2%.
China’s blue chips rose 0.3%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.5%, after the central bank held the benchmark lending rates steady as widely expected.
In the currency markets, the dollar was on the back foot again,
slipping 0.2% to 145.17 yen after data showed Japan’s core inflation hit a two-year high in May, which kept pressure on the Bank of Japan to resume interest rate hikes.
Investors, however, see little prospect of a rate hike from the BOJ until December this year, which is a little over 50% priced in.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee posted marginal decline against the US dollar, depreciating 0.02% during trading in the interbank market on Friday. At close, the local currency settled at 283.70, a loss of Re0.06 against the greenback.
Volume on the all-share index decreased to 421.64 million from 604.54 million recorded in the previous close.
The value of shares declined to Rs15.65 billion from Rs20.44 billion in the previous session.
WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 42.79 million shares, followed by TRG Pak Ltd with 26.66 million shares, and Pervez Ahmed Co with 25.53 million shares.
Shares of 468 companies were traded on Friday, of which 178 registered an increase, 245 recorded a fall, while 45 remained unchanged.
