KARACHI: Pakistan’s stock market suffered a sharp weekly decline as the intensifying Iran-US conflict and higher crude oil prices weighed heavily on investor sentiment.
The benchmark KSE-100 index fell 4,817 points, or 2.75%, during the week to close at 170,512 points on Friday.
Investors lost about 613.55 billion rupees in market value during the week, while the index traded within a range of 9,213 points. It reached a weekly high of 175,354 points and a low of 166,141 points.
The market recovered on Friday following reports of a temporary agreement between Iran and Gulf countries over the Strait of Hormuz, helping ease some concerns among investors.
Average daily trading volume fell 16.6% to 639.1 million shares, while average daily traded value declined 18.7% to $97.3 million.
The market's overall capitalization decreased by 614 billion rupees during the week to 19.016 trillion rupees.
Earlier, Pakistan’s stock market closed sharply higher on Friday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining 1,646 points to settle at 170,511.
The index had fallen as much as 2,724 points during the session, touching an intraday low of 166,141 before recovering as investors returned to the market at lower levels.
A total of 687.4 million shares changed hands in 569 companies, with trades worth Rs33 billion recorded during the session. Shares of 248 companies gained, while 210 declined.
The KSE-100 Index had closed at 168,865 points in the previous session.
Market experts attributed the recovery to renewed buying at lower levels and hopes for an improvement in the situation in the Middle East, which provided support to investor sentiment.
