Positive sentiments returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) after four days of losing streak, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index closing Friday’s session higher by over 1,270 points amid a strong buying momentum.
The KSE-100 faced range-bound trading in the first few hours, followed by a buying momentum that took the index to an intra-day high of 149,234.95.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 148,617.78, a gain of 1,274.27 points or 0.86%.
Sector wise top contribution to the index came from the cement sector on optimism of higher dispatch number for the month of August 2025. DGKC, LUCK, FCCL, MLCF and CHCC from the sector contributed 555 points to the index, brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.
On Thursday, the KSE-100 ended the session in negative territory, weighed down by persistent pressure from futures rollover activities. The KSE-100 Index closed at 147,343.50 points, down 150.52 points or 0.10%.
“Continuing its momentum KSE-100 Index increased 6.5% on MoM [month-on-month] basis largely on account of institutional buying during the month,” Topline said.
Internationally, Asian stocks edged higher on Friday, riding a tech-driven rally on Wall Street, with investor focus now turning to a key US inflation reading due later in the day for further clues on the Federal Reserve’s rate outlook.
The results from artificial intelligence heavyweight Nvidia this week, which fell short of investors’ lofty expectations, still confirmed that AI infrastructure spending remains strong, helping lift the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average to record high closes overnight.
Markets in Asia latched on to the positive momentum on Friday as MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.4%, though European and US stock futures slipped.
EUROSTOXX 50 futures fell 0.2% while FTSE futures eased 0.08%. S&P 500 futures dipped 0.08% and Nasdaq futures lost 0.15%.
In China, the tech-focused STAR 50 Index slid 2.5% after a jump of more than 7% in the previous session.
Shares of Chinese chip firm Cambricon Technologies tumbled more than 5% after the company on Thursday issued a risk alert to investors in a stock exchange filing, citing a sharp rise in its stock prices since late July.
Still, the CSI300 blue-chip index was up 0.7% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.5%. Japan’s Nikkei slipped 0.4%.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee maintained its positive momentum, appreciating 0.01% against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Friday. At close, the rupee settled at 281.77, a gain of Re0.03 against the greenback. This was rupee’s 16th consecutive gain against the greenback.
Volume on the all-share index increased to 1,342.20 million from 935.47 million recorded in the previous close.
The value of shares rose to Rs52.30 billion from Rs33.51 billion in the previous session.
B.O.Punjab was the volume leader with 128.75 million shares, followed by Pak Int.Bulk with 122.24 million shares, and K-Electric Ltd with 71.65 million shares.
Shares of 474 companies were traded on Friday, of which 236 registered an increase, 203 recorded a fall, while 35 remained unchanged.
