Late-session selling trims intra-day gains but KSE-100 still closes over 1,000 points higher

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed strong buying for the second consecutive day on Friday, as the benchmark KSE-100 Index closed the day higher by 1,049 points.

The KSE-100 witnessed strong buying for the major part of the day, hitting an intra-day high of 115,106.99, a gain of around 1,900 points as compared to the previous close.

However, some late-session selling trimmed the intra-day gains.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 114,255.73, up by 1,049.33 points or 0.93%.

“This positivity can be attributed to recent decline in market that created room for value investors to buy the dip. Rally in the market today was led by banking sector as it gained to close 2.2% higher,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.

“Top positive contribution to the index from the banking sector came from UBL, NBP, BAHL, MEBL, AKBL and HBL, as they cumulatively contributed 621 points to the index,” it added.

On Thursday, buying returned to the PSX after three negative sessions as the KSE-100 closed the day with a gain of over 1,700 points at 113,206.40.

The KSE-100 declined by 0.76% on month-on-month basis in January 2025.

“This decline can be attributed to profit taking by local and foreign institutions during the outgoing month,” Topline said.

Internationally, Asian shares wavered on Friday, weighed down by the return of tech-heavy South Korean stocks from holidays, but relatively strong earnings from U.S. tech giants kept risk sentiment intact. At the same time, tariff threats pushed the dollar and gold prices higher.

Investors were also weighing central bank actions this week in which the Federal Reserve held rates steady on Wednesday, in line with expectations, with Fed Chair Jerome Powell saying there would be no rush to cut them again.

The European Central Bank on the other hand cut interest rates on Thursday.

With markets in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan still closed for the Lunar New Year, the return of South Korea grabbed the spotlight in Asia.

The benchmark KOSPI slid 1%, after China’s DeepSeek unveiled earlier this week a breakthrough in cheap AI models that triggered a global market rout.

Shares of Samsung Electronics, which projected limited first-quarter earnings growth on Friday, fell 3%, while SK Hynix, a key supplier to Nvidia, slipped 8%.

That left the MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down 0.3% but still on course for a 1% gain this month, snapping its three-month losing streak.

Nasdaq futures rose 0.6% in Asian hours after Apple executives forecast relatively strong sales growth, a sign the company will recover from a dip in iPhone sales as it rolls out artificial intelligence features.

Technology stocks stumbled badly on Monday as investors factored in implications from the low-cost Chinese AI model, with shares of high-profile tech names such as Nvidia, Broadcom and Oracle getting pummelled.

But tech stocks have recouped some of those losses, with CEOs of Microsoft and Meta defending massive spending, saying it was crucial to staying competitive in the new field.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee remained largely stable against the US dollar, appreciating 0.01% in the inter-bank market on Friday. At close, the currency settled at 278.95 for a gain of Re0.02 against the greenback, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

Volume on the all-share index increased to 543.12 million from 483.94 million on Thursday.

The value of shares rose to Rs27.97 billion from Rs26.10 billion in the previous session.

Cnergyico PK was the volume leader with 66.68 million shares, followed by WorldCall Telecom with 37.80 million shares, and Bank Makramah with 18.55 million shares.

Shares of 454 companies were traded on Friday, of which 234 registered an increase, 164 recorded a fall, while 56 remained unchanged.