PSX extends gains, KSE-100 up over 500 points in early trade

Buying 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: 50am, the benchmark index was hovering at 171, 698. 54, up by 523. 04 points or 0. 31%. 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 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. 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. The Iran-backed Hezbollah rejected a new ceasefire in Lebanon on Thursday and Israel said it would not withdraw troops from the country, undermining U. S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to halt fighting there and reach a peace deal with Tehran. Meanwhile, an AI-driven rally that boosted stocks earlier ​in the week fizzled out as chipmaker Broadcom reported underwhelming results. All that left MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down 1. 6% in early Asia trade. South Korea’s tech-heavy Kospi slid more than 6% and Japan’s Nikkei ⁠fell 1. 3%. Nasdaq futures fell 1% and S&P 500 futures eased 0. 5%, after a mixed session on Wall Street overnight. EUROSTOXX 50 futures dipped 0. 2%, while DAX futures lost 0. 5% ​and FTSE futures were flat. Oil prices were little changed on Friday as traders awaited more clarity on U. S. -Iran negotiations, ​though were set for a weekly gain as hostilities earlier in the week raised concerns of a prolonged energy shock. This is an intraday update

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