KSE-100 closes at record high near 71,000

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) set a new record on Friday as its benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 620 points to close at a fresh peak near 71,000.

The KSE-100 started the trading session negative on reports of Israel’s attack on Iran. However, the market soon recovered and hit an intra-day high of 70,968.98.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 70,909.90, up by 619.79 points or 0.88%. This is its highest closing in history.

Buying was witnessed in sectors including automobile assemblers, chemical, oil and gas exploration companies, and OMCs, with index-heavy stocks of OGDC, PPL, PSO and SHEL trading in the green.

“Market recovered after initial negative reaction on reports of Israel’s attack on Iran amid lack of clarity,” Sana Tawfik, an analyst at Arif Habib Limited (AHL), told Business Recorder. “However, things will spiral if tensions between the two countries escalate.”

The analyst said the ongoing buying is driven by strong corporate earnings displayed by the local listed companies this quarter. “Moreover, the development regarding Reko Diq is also a positive for the market,” she said.

Globally, Japan’s Nikkei share average dropped more than 3% on Friday to their lowest levels in more than two months as chip-related stocks tracked losses in Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC, while an escalation in the Middle East turmoil also dented risk appetite.

The Nikkei fell to 36,733.06, its lowest level since Feb. 8, before ending the morning session down 3.31% at 36,818.81.

KSE-100 sees resistance at 71,000, closes session in red

Traders maintained a cautious stance after reports of a sharp escalation in Middle East hostilities.

On Thursday, the PSX benchmark index closed marginally lower by 43 points to settle at 70,290.12 level, as investors chose to capitalise on gains during trading.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee registered a marginal increase, appreciating 0.05% against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Friday. At close, the local unit settled at 278.31, a gain of Re0.13 against the greenback, as per the State Bank of Pakistan.

Volume on the all-share index slightly increased to 475.83 million from 440.31 million a session ago.

The value of shares decreased to Rs23.22 billion from Rs24.36 billion in the previous session.

Pak Refinery was the volume leader with 49.66 million shares, followed by Cnergyico PK with 26.77 million shares, and Kohinoor Spinning with 22.86 million shares.

Shares of 370 companies were traded on Friday, of which 200 registered an increase, 149 recorded a fall, while 21 remained unchanged.