Buying momentum continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining over 500 points during the opening minutes of trading on Friday.
At 9:35am, the benchmark index was hovering at 169,047.83, up by 533.39 points or 0.32%.
Buying was observed in key sectors, including commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies and power generation. Index-heavy stocks, including HUBCO, MARI, POL, BoK, MCB and JSBL, traded in the green.
On Thursday, the PSX witnessed a powerful bullish session as improved investor confidence, fueled by optimism surrounding ongoing United States-Iran negotiations and a decline in international oil prices, triggered aggressive buying. The benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 3,683.02 points or 2.23% on a day-on-day basis to settle at 168,514.45 points.
Internationally, Asian stocks rose on Friday while the U.S. dollar sat near six- week highs and oil prices were whipsawed as investors held on to hopes of a breakthrough in US-Iran peace talks, although both sides remained at odds over key issues.
The worry for investors remains the near closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical artery for the world’s energy supplies, which has sent oil prices soaring and rewired the global interest rate outlook because of inflationary concerns.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there had been “some good signs” in talks to end the nearly three-month-old war in the Middle East, but differences remain over Tehran’s uranium stockpile and controls over the waterway.
In stock markets, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japanwas 0.3% higher, set for a modest weekly rise. Japan’s Nikkei gained 2%.
US stocks futures rose 0.2%, and European futures gained 0.8%.
This is an intraday update
