Pakistan stocks close flat amid IMF upcoming review concerns

Pakistan stocks closed flat on Friday during the earnings season at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) amid investor concerns over the upcoming International Monetary Fund (IMF) review later this month. The market's worries stem from a shortfall in tax collection and overdue external debt obligations.

The benchmark index exhibited a mixed trend throughout the trading day, experiencing continued selling pressure.

Despite the bearish movement, recent market corrections have placed many stocks at attractive price ranges, suggesting a possible reversal of the downward trend in the near future.

KSE-100 index gained 0.02% or 21.78 points to close at 110,322.94 points.

Indian stocks dropped on Friday because a widely anticipated interest rate cut didn't impress investors, who had hoped for more measures from the central bank to increase liquidity. Financial stocks were hit the hardest.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reduced the repo rate by 0.25% to 6.25% in an effort to boost economic growth.

BSE-100 index shed 0.18% or 43.88 points to close at 24,698.11 points.

DFM General Index lost 0.12% or 6.44 points to close at 5,238.39 points.

Commodities

Oil prices went up on Friday after three weeks of falling, because people expected more interest rate cuts from the US Federal Reserve (Fed). However, concerns about tariffs, a strong US dollar, and rising jobless claims kept the gains small.

Fed officials mentioned that there's a lot of uncertainty in policies during Trump's administration, making it hard to decide on future US monetary policy.

This led to expectations of lower demand for oil in the US, the world’s biggest oil consumer, which limited the price increase.

Brent crude prices surged 0.67% to $74.79 per barrel.

Gold prices rose due to trade tensions, geopolitical issues, and central banks buying gold to hedge against inflation and diversify from the U.S. dollar.

President Trump's tariffs and conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have created uncertainty for investors, contributing to gold's gains.

International gold prices increased 0.57% reaching $2,866.91 per ounce.

Currency

US dollar eased against PKR in the inter-bank market. Pakistani currency gained 11 paisas to 279.05. In the open market USD was trading at PKR 281.