PSX cheers US-Iran ceasefire hopes

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday witnessed a positive session as the KSE-100 index rose nearly 2,240 points, driven by renewed investor optimism over progress in US-Iran negotiations and easing global oil prices.

Broad-based buying was visible throughout the day, with the market building on the shortened trading week's strong performance. The benchmark index gained 3.5% week-on-week, closing near the psychological 175,000 level.

Investor sentiment improved significantly amid encouraging developments in ongoing US-Iran talks, including a preliminary deal to extend the ceasefire by 60 days for further discussions on Tehran's nuclear programme.

At the close of trading, the benchmark KSE-100 index posted a strong gain of 2,237.52 points, or 1.30%, and settled at 173,962.82.

"The market opened on a strong footing as investor sentiment improved amid encouraging progress in ongoing US-Iran negotiations and declining international oil prices," said Ali Najib, Deputy Head of Trading at Arif Habib Ltd (AHL). Broad-based buying emerged following positive developments during Eid holidays, with expectations of a diplomatic breakthrough continuing to drive optimism across the market.

AHL noted that the shortened trading week witnessed strong gains as the KSE-100 rose 3.5% week-on-week, closing near the 175k target at 173,962.8. On Friday, 80 shares advanced while 19 declined, with notable contributions to the index coming from FFC (+4.02%), Engro Holdings (+3.28%) and Lucky Cement (+3.81%).

FFC signed a $1.1 billion front-end engineering design agreement with China's Hualu Engineering for a coal-run fertiliser project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) 2.0. Additionally, the US and Iran reached a preliminary deal to extend a ceasefire by 60 days to discuss the future of Tehran's nuclear programme.

With support for the index rising to the 170k level in the coming week, the KSE-100 appears well-positioned to challenge the January highs, added AHL.

Topline Securities, in its market review, noted that a positive session was observed at the exchange post-Eid as the KSE-100 gained 1.3% to close at 173,963. "This positivity can be attributed to optimism that the US and Iran are about to close a peace deal," it said.

The top positive contribution to the index came from FFC, Engro Holdings, Lucky Cement, Engro Fertilisers, Bank AL Habib and HBL, as they cumulatively contributed +1,484 points. Traded value-wise, FFC (Rs3.73 billion), DG Khan Cement (Rs2.34 billion), TRG (Rs2.3 billion), Lucky Cement (Rs1.83 billion), NBP (Rs1.75 billion) and Maple Leaf Cement (Rs1.74 billion) dominated the activity, said Topline.

The KSE-100 index gained 6.7% month-on-month. "This positivity can be attributed to the ceasefire between the US and Iran where both sides showed restraint, and progress on peace talks, resulting in improved investor sentiment," it commented.

Major developments during the outgoing month were Pakistan's Consumer Price Index for April 2026 coming in at 10.9% compared to last month's 7.3%, the State Bank receiving $1.3 billion tranche under the Extended Fund Facility and the Resilience and Sustainability Facility from the IMF, car sales reaching 22,015 units in April (up 107% YoY and 42% MoM), Pakistan's monthly remittances hitting $3.5 billion (up 11% YoY but down 8% MoM) and the current account deficit clocking in at $324 million in April 2026 versus surplus of $1,134 million in March.

Overall trading volumes at the PSX were recorded at 555.06 million shares compared with the previous session's tally of 506.36 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs40.88 billion.

Shares of 490 companies were traded. Of these, 298 stocks closed higher, 161 fell, and 31 remained unchanged.

TRG Pakistan was the volume leader with trading in 34.19 million shares, gaining Rs5.97 to close at Rs69.17. It was followed by The Bank of Punjab with 23.89 million shares, gaining Rs0.06 to close at Rs34.59, and WorldCall Telecom with 22.88 million shares, losing Rs0.01 to close at Rs1.29.

Foreign investors sold shares worth Rs433.6 million, the National Clearing Company reported.