PSX: Buying continues, KSE-100 up nearly 1,600 points

Buying gathered pace on the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Friday, pushing the KSE-100 up by nearly 1,600 points in the afternoon session, according to Business Recorder. At 3:20pm the index stood at 170,622.63, a gain of 1,579.44 points or 0.93%. Investors bought into car makers, cement, banks, exploration firms, OMCs and power producers, while heavyweights such as LUCK, MCB, MEBL, NBP, UBL, MARI, OGDC, POL, PPL and PSO moved higher.

The rally follows a strong rebound on Thursday, when the index closed 1,021.40 points, or 0.61%, higher at 169,043.20. That recovery was helped by lower global oil prices and signs of a possible easing in the US-Iran conflict, which lifted sentiment across key sectors. Elsewhere, Asian shares rose and the dollar held steady, while Brent crude futures slipped 1% to $103.77 a barrel as hopes grew for alternative Middle East supply routes.

Global attention remains on inflation, as the Middle East war, now more than six months old, shows few signs of ending and keeps oil above $100 a barrel. Wall Street rallied overnight, led by beaten-down technology shares, while the 10-year US Treasury was last at 4.936% after topping 5% earlier this week, its highest level since 2007. In Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.55%, Japan's Nikkei gained 0.9% and South Korea's KOSPI jumped 2%.