The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) maintained its positive momentum on Friday, with investors continuing to accumulate shares in key sectors during the opening session.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index rose more than 500 points in early trading, building on the strong gains recorded in the previous session. By 9:50am, the index was standing at 171,698.54 points, showing an increase of 523.04 points, or 0.31 percent. Earlier in the session, the market climbed as high as 172,102.91 points around 9:34am, reflecting a gain of 927.41 points as trading activity remained healthy.
Buying interest was visible across several major sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration firms, oil marketing companies and power generation stocks. Market heavyweights such as HUBCO, Mari Energies, OGDC, Pakistan Oilfields, PPL, PSO, HBL and NBP traded in positive territory, helping support the benchmark index.
Among the most actively traded stocks, TPL Properties, Waves Apparels, Hascol Petroleum, TPL Corp, TRG Pakistan and Pakistan Qatar General Takaful attracted notable investor interest. Waves Apparels emerged as one of the strongest performers among actively traded shares, while Pakistan Qatar General Takaful and Waves also posted impressive gains.
On the broader market, several stocks registered double-digit percentage increases during the early session. Fauji Foods Limited Modaraba, DBCI, Pak Suzuki Modaraba, Waves Apparels and ZTL ranked among the top gainers. In contrast, selling pressure was seen in selected counters, with SANSM, FCIBL, LSEFSL and FIL featuring among the session’s biggest decliners.
The positive start followed a strong close on Thursday when the KSE-100 Index advanced 984.86 points, or 0.58 percent, to settle at 171,175.51 points. Investor sentiment was supported by hopes of a possible diplomatic breakthrough between the United States and Iran, which encouraged selective buying in heavyweight stocks.
However, the upbeat local performance contrasted with weakness across Asian markets. Regional equities moved lower as investors turned cautious ahead of the weekend amid uncertainty surrounding Middle East tensions and stalled US-Iran negotiations. Concerns over the geopolitical situation and profit-taking in technology shares weighed on investor confidence across major Asian bourses.
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