Pakistan Stock Exchange plunges by 279 points

KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday noted bearish trend as KSE-100 Index plunged by 279 points to close at 40,848 points, ARY News reported.

A total of 146,610,620 shares valuing Rs 7.7 billion were traded against 132,017,420 shares of Rs 6.52 billion during the last trading day.

Shares of 348 companies were transacted, out of which 116 recorded gain and 211 sustained losses whereas the share price of 21 remained unchanged.

Meanwhile, most Southeast Asian stock markets ended higher on Friday, with Vietnam hitting a two-week closing high, buoyed by optimism that the United States and China were inching closer to signing a Phase 1 trade deal.

China on Wednesday said that it was in close contact with Washington about an initial trade agreement, shortly after U.S.

President Donald Trump said a signing ceremony would be held for the recently struck deal

Optimism from progress in the trade negotiations has supported regional equities for the past two sessions, although trading remained subdued on account of the year-end holidays.

Leading gains in the region, Vietnam’s main index tacked on 0.5%, recouping most of the losses it suffered earlier in the session, after data showed that its economy expanded at a better pace than targeted by the government in 2019.