KARACHI: Although the situation in the Middle East remained tense amid persistent supply disruptions due to attacks on ships, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) managed to break its four-session losing streak on Friday.
Attractive valuations revived buying interest, helping the benchmark KSE-100 index to settle above the 170,000 milestone after hitting an intraday low of 166,141.18.
This partial recovery followed overnight massive losses, as lingering fears about the economy, including costly energy imports and rising inflationary pressure, kept market sentiment cautious.
According to Topline Securities Ltd, the index opened on a negative note as Houthi attacks on Saudi energy facilities pushed crude oil prices higher, weighing on investor sentiment.
Index snaps four-session losing streak to close above 170,000
However, during the latter part of the trading session, reports that the six-member Gulf bloc is considering a meeting with Iranian officials next week to discuss the future of the Strait of Hormuz triggered a decline in crude oil prices. The easing in oil prices helped improve market sentiment, allowing the index to recover and close at 170,512 points, up 1,646.82 points, or 0.98 per cent.
Meezan Bank, Fauji Fertiliser, Lucky Cement, Pakistan Petroleum, Oil and Gas Development Company and Engro Fertiliser cumulatively added 1,032 points to the benchmark.
Investor participation improved over the previous session, with trading volume rising 9.35pc to 687 million shares and turnover value jumping 24.75pc to Rs33.7bn.
In its market commentary, Arif Habib Ltd noted that Friday’s mild recovery reduced the weekly fall to 2.75pc week-on-week.
On the corporate front, Kot Addu Power Company announced its financial results for 4QFY26, in which earnings per share surged 7.7 times to Rs1.14 year-on-year.
The earnings improvement is driven by a turnaround in gross profit, which hit Rs507m, up from just Rs11m last year, following the absence of Kapco’s PPA and the initial contribution from Attock Cement Pakistan Ltd. To recall, its original PPA expired in June 2021, after which the company entered into a three-year tripartite Power Purchase Agreement with Central Power Purchasing Agency and National Grid Company of Pakistan Ltd.
An IMF staff mission is likely to visit Pakistan on Sept 23 to discuss the fourth review under the $7bn Extended Fund Facility programme and the third review under the $1.4bn Resilience and Sustainability Facility.
Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2026
