Stock index KSE-100 ends seldom changed, as late trading selling wipes out intraday increases
Pakistan Stock Exchange Closes Week on a Positive Note, Rupee Appreciates
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended the week on a positive note, with the KSE-100 Index showing a 0.5% increase, hovering near its four-year highs. The index started the day positively, reaching an intra-day high of 159,337.46, before closing at 158,037.37, up by 83.90 points or 0.05%.
Liquidity drove the market to new highs, largely due to institutional buying. The value of shares rose to Rs69.27 billion from Rs56.93 billion in the previous session, and volume on the all-share index increased to 2,047 million shares from 1,959 million recorded in the previous close.
Cnergyico PK was the volume leader with 170.30 million shares, followed by B.O.PunjabXD with 167.28 million shares, and WorldCall Telecom with 163.00 million shares. A total of 486 companies were traded on Friday, of which 189 registered an increase, 266 recorded a fall, and 31 remained unchanged.
The positive sentiment was also reflected in the Pakistani rupee, which maintained its positive momentum against the US bank. On Friday, the rupee settled at 281.46, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback. This was the rupee's 31st consecutive gain against the US bank.
Elsewhere in the region, Asian shares are expected to end the current central week in positive territory, buoyed by hopes of more monetary stimulus around the world. The Nikkei notched a record this week, aided by expectations the Bank of Japan would again skip a rate hike. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.3% on Friday, but is still expected to end the week in the green.
In other central bank news, the Bank of Japan is expected to keep its easy monetary policy unchanged on Friday amid domestic political uncertainties. Central banks in the United States, Canada, and Norway cut interest rates this week, while the Bank of England held steady.
However, there were no search results that mentioned a brokerage house publishing a post-market report on Friday, March 13, 20XX, about the volatile session on the Pakistan Stock Exchange and the KSE-100 Index. Both Nasdaq futures and S&P 500 futures were little changed on Friday, while Chinese blue chips inched up 0.2%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng eased 0.3%.
Stock options, index options, and stock index futures all expire on Friday, leading to increased trading activity and potential market volatility. The KSE-100 Index increased 2.3% on a week-on-week basis, largely due to institutional buying and liquidity.
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