Buying momentum continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday as investors celebrated the reduction in US reciprocal tariffs on Pakistan, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining over 200 points during early trading.
At 10:15am, the benchmark index was hovering at 139,605.26 level, an increase of 214.84 points or 0.15%.
Buying was observed in key sectors including cement, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies and OMCs. Index-heavy stocks, including MARI, OGDC, SNGPL, SSGC and FFC traded in the green.
In a key development, the US administration imposed a 19% reciprocal tariff on a wide range of Pakistani goods, significantly lower than the initially proposed 29%, under a sweeping new executive order signed by President Donald Trump.
Late on Thursday, President Trump signed an executive order imposing tariffs ranging from 10% to 41% on US imports from dozens of countries and foreign locations.
Rates were set at 25% for India’s US-bound exports, 20% for Taiwan’s, 19% for Thailand’s and 15% for South Korea’s.
He also increased duties on Canadian goods to 35% from 25% for all products not covered by the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, but gave Mexico a 90-day reprieve from higher tariffs to negotiate a broader trade deal.
On Thursday, PSX roared back to life as bullish momentum dominated the trading floor. This sharp surge came on the heels of a surprise tweet by US President Donald Trump, who announced what he described as a historic trade deal with Pakistan.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index went up by a remarkable 978 points, equivalent to a 0.71% increase, to close at 139,390.42 points.
Internationally, Asian shares fell on Friday after the US slapped dozens of trading partners with steep tariffs, while investors anxiously await US jobs data that could make or break the case for a Fed rate cut next month.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.7%, bringing the total loss this week to 1.8%. South Korea’s KOSPI plunged 3% while Taiwanese shares fell 0.9%.
Japan’s Nikkei dropped 0.4%. Chinese blue chips were flat and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index eked out a small gain of 0.2%.
EUROSTOXX 50 futures slipped 0.2%. Both Nasdaq futures and S&P 500 futures eased 0.2% after earnings from Amazon failed to live up to lofty expectations, sending its shares tumbling 6.6% after hours.
