KARACHI: Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) ended higher on Friday, led by Pakistan Oilfields (POL) and following a rise in international oil prices, dealers said.
KSE benchmark 100-share index rose 0.48 percent, or 57.02 points, to end at 11,905.86.
Turnover fell to 68 million shares from 75.09 million shares traded a day earlier.
"Renewed buying interest was seen in oil stocks on the back of a continuous increase in global oil prices," said Samar Iqbal, a dealer at Topline Securities Ltd.
POL ended 2.37 percent higher at 330.20 rupees while Pakistan Petroleum Ltd rose 2.26 percent to 211.98 rupees.
Brent crude rose $2 on Friday after attacks on Libyan oil fields raised the prospect of long-term supply outages and the conflict appeared to move towards a stalemate.
Front-month Brent crude rose more than $2 to hit a 32-month high of $124.84.
In the currency market, the rupee ended flat despite rising international oil prices amid continuous healthy dollar inflows, but dealers said the rupee may ease next week when higher import payments are due.
The rupee closed at 84.85/90 to the dollar, unchanged from Thursday's close.
The rupee has been supported in recent months by rising dollar inflows due to higher export proceeds, as well as a record inflow of remittances.
These rising inflows have already pushed the country's foreign exchange reserves to a record $17.95 billion for the week ended on March 26.
Reserves fell to $17.64 billion in the week ended April 2 on scheduled debt payments.
In the money market, overnight rates fell to between 13.50 percent and 13.75 percent, compared with Thursday's close of 13.90 percent after the State Bank of Pakistan bought back government paper worth 32.50 billion rupees ($383 million).
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