Pakistan Stock Exchange maintains buying momentum
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) maintained positive momentum on Friday as the buying rally continued in different sectors, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
At Friday prayers break, the PSX’s benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 260.50 points to reach 171,436.00 points, reflecting a positive change of 0.15 percent.
Buying activity was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, and power generation. Index-heavy stocks, including HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, POL, PPL, PSO, HBL, and NBP, traded in the green.
On Thursday, PSX had extended its gains as cautious optimism surrounding a potential diplomatic breakthrough between the United States and Iran encouraged selective buying in heavyweight stocks, helping the benchmark index close firmly in positive territory.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 984.86 points, or 0.58%, to close at 171,175.51 points.
Out of 492 active companies in the ready market, 316 advanced, 128 declined, and 48 remained unchanged.
The market capitalization increased to Rs 18.983 trillion from Rs 18.864 trillion a day earlier.
Internationally, Asian share markets slid on Friday as investors took profits on technology stocks and turned defensive ahead of the weekend, wary of the flare-up in Middle East hostilities as U.S.-Iran peace talks remain in limbo.
Reporter: Basim Iftikhar