The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a strong rebound on Friday as bullish momentum returned, lifting the benchmark KSE-100 Index by more than 700 points during the early trading hours.
At 10:40 AM, the benchmark KSE-100 Index surged by 741.64 points or 0.47%, reaching 159,838.42 points.
Buying activity was observed across major sectors, including automobile manufacturers, commercial banks, fertilizers, OMCs, and refineries. Key stocks such as MCB, HBL, HCAR, WAFI, PSO, ARL, and MEBL also traded in the green zone.
A major development adding to investor sentiment was the Economic Coordination Committee’s (ECC) scheduled meeting on Friday to decide on a significant economic agenda. The agenda includes the approval of a massive Rs. 659.6 billion government guarantee for the power sector, tariff reforms for nuclear power plants, and a new gas pricing plan for fertilizer manufacturers.
It is worth noting that the KSE-100 Index had closed on Thursday with a decline of 481.40 points or 0.3%, settling at 159,096.79 points.
Meanwhile, global tech-driven stock markets were heading toward their biggest weekly decline in seven months as investors grew increasingly anxious about the sustainability of the recent rally in artificial intelligence stocks. Safe-haven assets such as bonds and the Japanese yen strengthened.
In Asia’s morning session, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures posted slight gains, although the Nasdaq had fallen 1.9% the previous night.
So far this week, the world’s largest tech index has dropped 2.8%, which—if sustained—would mark the steepest weekly loss since March. This decline is expected to hit companies that had gained more than 50% from their lows following April’s tariff announcement.
Japan’s Nikkei Index slipped 1.8% in the morning session and is heading for a 4.7% weekly loss—its worst since late March. Similarly, South Korea’s KOSPI dropped 1.4%, moving toward a 3.3% weekly decline, also its worst since late March.
Chip and cable manufacturers recorded the largest losses, while tech investor SoftBank Group Corp. plunged more than 20% this week. Bitcoin, often seen as a barometer for tech-market sentiment, fell 8% this week, dipping to $101,092.
