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PSX ends flat at 166k as market consolidates | The Express Tribune
Pakistan’s main stock index, the KSE-100, ended almost flat Thursday, rising just 0.08% to 166,284 points — a gain of only 138 points. It stayed within a narrow range throughout the day, moving between 165,886 and 166,837, as investors held back before the weekend.
“Pakistan Stock Exchange extended its consolidation phase as the KSE-100 Index closed on a flattish note at 166,284 points, up 138 points or 0.08%,” said Ali Najib, Deputy Head of Trading at Arif Habib Ltd.
Throughout the session, the benchmark moved in both directions within a narrow 951-point band, recording an intra-day high of 166,837 (+692 points; 0.42%) and a low of 165,886 (-259 points; 0.16%).
On the corporate front, Service Industries surged to its upper circuit (+Rs 157.80; 10%) after announcing a Board meeting, other than financial results, scheduled for tomorrow at 10 am. Meanwhile, Fatima Fertiliser (+Rs 1.41; 0.94%) notified PSX that its subsidiary, Fatima Petroleum, has partnered with MARI and Turkish Petroleum to cover two offshore blocks.
Among major movers, SRVI, PIOC, PTC, ENGROH, and PPL collectively contributed 288 points to the index, while FFC, PSEL, MARI, UBL, and MEBL cumulatively eroded 605 points.
Market activity remained moderate, with 606.6 million shares traded and total turnover exceeding Rs 31 billion. LPL led the volume chart with 108.9 million shares.
Looking ahead, as we approach the last session of the week, the market is expected to rebound toward the weekly high of 169,289 before making another attempt at a new all-time high. On the downside, the 165–166k zone is likely to act as a key support area.
The supply chain risk designation of the artificial intelligence firm is a first for a US company.
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UniQure needs to run another study to prove that its gene therapy “actually helps people with Huntington’s disease,” a senior U.S. Food and Drug Administration official said on a call with reporters Thursday.
The official, who requested anonymity before discussing sensitive information, confirmed the agency has asked the company to run a placebo controlled trial of its treatment, which is administered directly into the brain. UniQure has said that type of study isn’t ethical because it would require putting people under general anesthesia for hours, a characterization the official disputed.
“So what is really going on? UniQure is the latest company to make a failed therapy for Huntington’s patients,” the official said. “They likely acknowledge or understand at some deep level that their trial failed years ago, and instead of doing the right thing and running the correct clinical study, UniQure is performing a distorted or manipulated comparison in the mind of FDA.”
The comments mark the latest development in a messy public spat between UniQure and the FDA, and as the agency comes under fire for a number of recent drug approval application rejections, including some where companies have accused it of going back on previous guidance. FDA Commissioner Marty Makary in an interview with CNBC’s Becky Quick last week seemingly criticized UniQure’s gene therapy for Huntington’s disease. Makary didn’t name UniQure but described its treatment.
UniQure then accused the FDA of reversing its stance that the company’s clinical trial data would be sufficient to seek approval. UniQure’s study used an outside database to measure how patients with Huntington’s disease might decline without treatment, known as an external control. UniQure has said it wouldn’t be feasible to run a true randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study, considered the gold standard, because it wouldn’t be ethical to make people undergo a sham hours-long brain surgery.
The FDA official said the agency “never agreed to accept this distorted comparison” and the FDA “never makes such assurances.” Instead, the “FDA will always say, ‘Well, we have to see the data when we get it.'”
UniQure didn’t immediately comment.
The company’s stock rose more than 10% on Thursday and has fallen 58% this year as of Thursday afternoon.
Business
US mortgage rates rise to 6% after three-week slide as oil-driven bond yields climb – The Times of India
The average long-term US mortgage rate edged higher this week, ending a three-week decline as bond yields rose amid oil-price pressures linked to the war with Iran.The benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate increased to 6% from 5.98% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said on Thursday. A year ago, the average rate stood at 6.63%, AP reported.The modest uptick breaks a three-week slide in borrowing costs, with mortgage rates having hovered close to the 6% mark for most of this year. Last week’s average had marked the first time the rate dipped below 6% since September 2022, reaching its lowest level in nearly three and a half years.Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, including the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate policy, investor expectations about inflation and economic growth, and movements in the bond market.They typically track the direction of the 10-year US Treasury yield, which lenders use as a benchmark for pricing home loans.The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.14% at midday Thursday, up from around 4% a week earlier.Treasury yields have moved higher in recent days as rising oil prices added fresh inflation concerns, potentially complicating the Federal Reserve’s plans to cut interest rates.
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