Pakistan stocks achieve yet another historic high

Pakistan’s stock market closed at historic highs, driven by blue-chip stocks across the board amid earnings season speculations and declining bank lending rates.

Rising global crude oil prices and the State Bank of Pakistan’s forex reserves reaching a 28-month high of $10.7 billion were key factors driving the bullish market close.

PPL (+6.4%), OGDC (+3.68%) and MEBL (+2.7%) having the biggest upside contributions on the index

The KSE-100 index gained 0.98% or 810.19 points to close at 83,531.95 points.

Indian equity markets experienced a significant downturn on Friday, with the benchmark indices closing markedly lower.

The decline was largely driven by escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, which led to a spike in crude oil prices and negatively impacted investor sentiment.

Brent crude oil prices surged to $78, heightening concerns about inflationary pressures and potential delays in interest rate cuts.

India’s BSE 100 Index shed 0.99% or 264.51 points to close at 26,489.83 points.

The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) General Index gained 0.17% or 7.61 points to close at 4,405.85 points.

Commodities

Oil prices surged on Friday, fueled by fears of a wider Middle East conflict disrupting crude supplies.

President Biden's comments hinting at a possible Israeli attack on Iranian oil facilities intensified these concerns.

While earlier in the week, worries about supply shortages drove prices up, OPEC's spare capacity and the ongoing, uninterrupted flow of global crude have somewhat tempered these fears.

Brent crude prices surged 0.72% to $78.18 per barrel.

Gold prices remained relatively stable on Friday as investors exercised caution ahead of a crucial U.S. jobs report, which could impact the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decisions.

The outlook for gold remains positive, driven by global interest rate cuts, a weakening U.S. dollar, and widespread geopolitical tensions.

International gold prices declined 0.45% reaching $2,643.82 per ounce. In Pakistan, gold prices increased by PKR 1,800 to PKR 276,200/tola on Friday.

Currency

US dollar weakened against PKR, down 0.08% in the inter-bank market. Pakistani currency settled at 277.51, a gain of 23 paisas against the US dollar. In the open market USD was trading at PKR 280.