Brushing off initial concerns over US President Donald Trump’s sweeping reciprocal tariffs on over 180 countries, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) staged a strong comeback as the benchmark KSE-100 closed at an all-time high of 118,938 on Thursday.
The benchmark index saw a volatile session as trading activity resumed after the Eid holidays. Selling pressure was observed in the opening hours as investors assessed the impact of Trump’s tariffs, pushing the index to an intra-day low of 117,508.07.
However, moods shifted later in the day after the government announced a reduction in electricity tariffs to support consumers and industries. This positive development drove the index to an intra-day high of 119,179.45.
At close, the index settled at 118,938.11 level, an increase of 1,131.37 points or 0.96%.
“This surge was driven by the government’s decision to lower electricity tariffs, which provided relief to consumers and industries, thereby boosting market sentiment,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.
The market’s gains were primarily fueled by strong performances from UBL, MEBL, MARI, LUCK, and OGDC, which collectively added 839 points to the index, it added.
US President Donald Trump ignited a potentially ruinous trade war Wednesday as he slapped sweeping 10% tariffs on imports from around the world and harsh additional levies on key trading partners.
Speaking in the White House Rose Garden against a backdrop of US flags, Trump unveiled particularly stinging tariffs on China and the European Union on what he called “Liberation Day.”
Trump’s tariffs triggered immediate anger, with US ally Australia blasting them as “unwarranted” and Italy calling them “wrong,” while other countries have already vowed retaliation.
It is pertinent to mention that Trump has slapped a 29% reciprocal tariff on Pakistan as well.
However, investors rejoiced after the federal government announced to reduction of electricity tariff by Rs7.41 per unit.
“For residential consumers, we have decided to reduce the electricity rates by Rs7.41 per unit, after which electricity will be provided at Rs34.37 per unit. Similarly, for commercial users, we have decided to reduce the electricity rates by Rs7.59 per unit,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced in a ceremony on Thursday.
Last week, the PSX remained volatile closing in negative territory due to profit-taking.
The KSE-100 declined by 635 points, or 0.05%, on a weekly basis, settling at 117,807 points compared to 118,442.18 points in the previous week. There were only four trading sessions during the week due to a holiday on Jummatul Wida.
Internationally, stocks dived on Thursday and investors scrambled for the safety of bonds, gold and the yen, fearing new US tariffs have intensified a trade war threatening to tip the world into recession.
The dollar was swept to a six-month low, falling along with U.S. bond yields after President Donald Trump imposed tariffs that raise effective import taxes to the highest levels in a century.
Nasdaq futures dropped 3.2%, European futures were down nearly 2% and the Nikkei’s 3% fall in Tokyo – touching eight-month lows – led to heavy losses across Asia.
Apple’s market capitalisation fell by more than $240 billion as its shares slid 7% in after-hours trade. Nvidia’s market cap dropped 5.6% or $153 billion.
Benchmark 10-year US Treasury yields fell more than 15 basis points to a five-month low of 4.04% and markets priced a higher chance of interest rate cuts even though the tariffs are likely to cause U.S. inflation to spike sharply.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee saw marginal decline against the US dollar, depreciating 0.14% in the inter-bank market on Thursday. At close, the currency settled at 280.56, a fall of Re0.40 against the greenback.
Volume on the all-share index increased to 422.70 million from 329.99 million recorded in the previous close.
Whereas, the value of shares rose to Rs28.21 billion from Rs19.77 billion in the previous session.
Sui South Gas was the volume leader with 53.24 million shares, followed by Cnergyico PK with 20.02 million shares, and Pak Elektron with 15.76 million shares.
Shares of 452 companies were traded on Thursday, of which 247 registered an increase, 154 recorded a fall, while 51 remained unchanged.
