PSX: buying at bourse, KSE-100 gains nearly 1,300 points

The KSE-100 was up 1,284.00 points, or 0.72%, at 178,657.76 by 2:50pm on Friday, Business Recorder reported, as buying picked up in the latter part of the session. Banking, exploration, oil marketing and refinery shares were among the areas attracting demand, with PRL, MARI, POL, PSO, SSGC, HBL, MCB, NBP and UBL trading higher.

The rebound followed Thursday’s 1,710.04-point, or 0.95%, decline, when the index finished at 177,373.76 after reversing earlier gains. The report also noted firmer Asian markets, while investors internationally were assessing a possible 50-basis-point Federal Reserve rate increase next month and the consequences of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s resignation for the AI industry. The Friday figures were an intraday update, not the market’s closing level.