KSE-100 extends gains, rises 0.29%

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) extended gains on Friday after the KSE-100 Index witnessed a tepid session. The market saw buying activity in the first half and sell-off in final hours.

As a result, the KSE-100 index rose 0.29% or 123.37 points to close at 41,948.16.

Trading began with a spike and the KSE-100 Index climbed past 42,000 points in the first session, however, some of the gains were erased towards the end of the first half.

KSE-100 inches up but trading activity remains dull

The second session began downward and the market erased almost all gains, however, late session buying spell made the market end in the green.

Automobile, cement, banking and fertiliser sectors closed in the green while oil scrips saw major sell-off.

A report from Capital Stake stated that bulls of the PSX made a comeback on last trading session of the week.

“Indices swung in both directions until finally closing in green while volumes appreciated from last close,” it said.

On the economic front, the decline in rupee persisted for the sixth successive session and the local currency shed Rs2.76 or 1.22% to close at Rs228.18

Moreover, Pakistan’s liquid foreign exchange reserves rose $1.07 billion. Net reserves with State Bank surged by $1,103 million on weekly basis while net reserves with banks fell by $33 million.

Sectors driving the benchmark KSE-100 upward included technology and communication (51.77 points), fertiliser (37.69 points) and banking (29.52 points).

Volume on the all-share index ticked up to 146.6 million from 108.7 million on Thursday. On the other hand, the value of shares traded rose to Rs7.13 billion from Rs4.39 billion recorded in the previous session.

TRG Pakistan was the volume leader with 15.1 million shares, followed by Kot Addu Power Company with 12.8 million shares and Engro Fertiliser with 7.3 million shares.

Shares of 327 companies were traded on Friday, of which 160 registered an increase, 134 recorded a fall, and 33 remained unchanged.