The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended another trading session on a flat note as the benchmark KSE-100 index settled with a loss of 70 points, while both volume and value of shares traded declined on Friday.
During the trading session, the index remained largely positive, hitting an intra-day high of 80,627.49, up 344 points.
However, profit-taking was witnessed in the final hours of the trading session as the index settled at 80,212.79, a decrease of 70.01 points or 0.09%.
A mixed trend was witnessed during the trading session with automobile assemblers, commercial banks, and refinery registering gains. On the other hand, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, fertiliser and cement settled in the red.
Index-heavy banking stocks including HBL and NBP settled in the green.
Despite the minor fall on Friday, the market has been on a winning run in anticipation of inking a new bailout programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Globally, Asian share markets scaled new highs on Friday as investors sized up US rate cuts for September and the mood was upbeat, while the euro hit a three-week peak ahead of French elections.
Japan’s Nikkei and broader Topix both nudged up to record levels, as did Taiwan’s benchmark.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.2% to a two-year high with Samsung’s estimate of a more than 15-fold rise in second-quarter profit helping South Korea’s KOSPI to a two-year peak as well.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee registered a marginal gain against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Friday.
In a key development, Farrukh H Khan resigned from the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of PSX to “pursue other opportunities”.
Volume on the all-share index decreased to 448.98 million from 496.78 million in the previous session.
The value of shares declined to Rs18.9 billion from Rs19.3 billion in the last session.
B.O.Punjab was the volume leader with 34.4 million shares, followed by National BankXD with 28.5 million shares, and PIA Holding Company with 25.1 million shares.
Shares of 432 companies were traded on Friday, of which 152 registered an increase, 229 recorded a fall, while 51 remained unchanged.
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