PSX Sheds Over 1,300 Points as Global Trade Tensions Heat Up

Volatility returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday, in line with the global trend, as the US-China trade war intensified further with China slapping 125 percent tariffs on US goods. The benchmark KSE-100 Index lost 1,335 points to close at 114,853 points, down 1.16 percent over the previous closing. A total of 458,589,593 shares were traded during the day as compared to 638,089,718 shares the previous trading day, whereas the price of shares stood at Rs. 31.62 billion against Rs. 36.92 billion on the last trading day. As many as 441 companies transacted their shares in the stock market, 137 of them recorded gains and 244 sustained losses, whereas the share price of 60 companies remained unchanged. Top negative contribution to the index acme from UBL, FFC, EFERT, ENGROH and MARI, as they cumulatively lost value to weigh down on the index by -837 points, brokerage house Topline Securities mentioned in a note. Traded value wise KOHC (Rs. 2.36 billion), GLAXO (Rs. 1.92 billion), PAEL (Rs. 1.88 billion), HCAR (Rs. 1.54 billion), MARI (Rs. 1.36 billion) and SEARL (Rs. 1.24 billion) dominated the trading activity, it added.