KSE-100 closes at 173,963, gaining 3.5% week-on-week as FFC’s $1.1 billion China deal fuels broad-based rally
Image Associated Press Of Pakistan
The Pakistan Stock Exchange closed Friday on a strong note, with the KSE-100 index jumping 2,237.52 points or 1.30% to settle at 173,962.82. Renewed investor optimism over progress in US-Iran nuclear negotiations and falling global oil prices drove broad-based buying throughout the session.
The benchmark index gained 3.5% week-on-week, closing near the psychological 175,000 mark. Over the outgoing month, the KSE-100 rose 6.7%, buoyed by the US-Iran ceasefire and both sides showing restraint during peace talks.
Ali Najib, Deputy Head of Trading at Arif Habib Ltd, said the market opened on strong footing as encouraging diplomatic developments during the Eid holidays lifted sentiment across the board. AHL noted that support for the index is rising to the 170,000 level, positioning the KSE-100 to challenge January highs in the coming week.
Top contributors to Friday’s rally included FFC, which gained 4.02%, Engro Holdings at 3.28%, and Lucky Cement at 3.81%. These stocks, along with Engro Fertilisers, Bank AL Habib and HBL, collectively added 1,484 points to the index.
FFC was the session’s standout story, signing a $1.1 billion front-end engineering design agreement with China’s Hualu Engineering for a coal-run fertiliser project under CPEC 2.0. The stock also topped traded value charts at Rs3.73 billion, followed by DG Khan Cement at Rs2.34 billion and TRG Pakistan at Rs2.3 billion.
Overall, 555.06 million shares changed hands during the session, valued at Rs40.88 billion. Of 490 companies traded, 298 closed higher, 161 fell, and 31 remained unchanged. TRG Pakistan led volumes with 34.19 million shares traded, closing at Rs69.17. Foreign investors remained net sellers, offloading shares worth Rs433.6 million.
Key economic developments during the month included April CPI inflation rising to 10.9% from 7.3%, the State Bank receiving a $1.3 billion IMF tranche, car sales surging 107% year-on-year to 22,015 units, remittances hitting $3.5 billion, and the current account swinging to a deficit of $324 million from a surplus of $1.13 billion in March.
