KSE-100 Index Inches Closer To 170000 for First Time

KSE-100 Index Inched closer to 170,000 for first time on Friday during the second half of the trading session on Friday.

Pakistan stocks had opened higher Friday during intra-day trading as the benchmark index hits a historic level following liquidity and investor confidence drove gains.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) opened on a strong note on Friday as the benchmark KSE-100 Index crossed the 169,000 mark for the first time in history.KSE-100 Hits 165,493

During the opening minutes of trade, the index was hovering at 169,007.04 points, which was up 517.42 points or 0.31 percent.

Buying interest was seen in all key sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, fertilizers, oil and gas exploration, oil marketing companies, power generation, and refineries.

Index-heavyweights such as Hub Power Company (HUBCO), Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC), Pakistan Oilfields Limited (POL), Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), D.G. Khan Cement (DGKC), and Indus Motor Company (INDU) were all trading in the green.

The strong opening followed Thursday’s buoyant session, where the KSE-100 Index gained 2,849.29 points, or 1.72 percent. It was closed at 168,489.63 points. The upward momentum was driven largely by institutional buying, suggesting deep participation from major players.

MSCI’s Asia-Pacific index was also up 0.14 percent in early Friday trade. It was just below the record high it reached the previous day. The index was on course for a weekly gain of over 2 percent and surged by 23 percent year-to-date.

Japan’s Nikkei has gained 0.75 percent in early trading. Asian markets tracked Wall Street, where all three major U.S. indices closed at record highs. They witness a boost by continued strength in technology stocks. Investor enthusiasm for artificial intelligence-linked companies has remained a central theme