Stocks end week flat amid oil, geopolitical uncertainty

The Pakistan Stock Exchange ended the week with the KSE-100 index almost unchanged, closing at 170,765 points, which was 120 points lower than the previous week's 170,885. Dawn reported that investors stayed cautious as doubts surrounding the US-Iran standoff pushed crude prices higher. Early-week hopes for progress in talks were overturned by renewed geopolitical worries, while an IMF mission arrived to discuss tranche releases under two programmes.

Topline Securities highlighted a long-awaited step, with four of Pakistan's five refineries having signed upgrade pacts, namely Attock Refinery, Pakistan Refinery, National Refinery and Cnergyico PK. The deals, made with Inter State Gas Systems, fall under the Pakistan Oil Refining Policy and are expected to bring roughly $5 billion of investment over the coming five years. The project is intended to modernise refining capacity, lift output of cleaner Euro-V fuels and cut furnace oil production.

Average daily trading volume rose to 670.2m shares, up 48.2 per cent week-on-week, while average traded value reached $80.7m, up 7.7 per cent. Fertiliser stocks added 171 points to the index, whereas banking stocks were the biggest drag, subtracting 366 points. AKD Securities regards the IMF review as the principal short-term driver for the market, with US-Iran negotiations and global crude moves also expected to shape sentiment.