The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Index edged lower on Friday in a mixed session. However, the index still managed to gain 3% on a weekly basis on the back of a bull-run that started from the staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

On Friday, the KSE-100 index hit an intra-day high of 48,840.27, but profit-taking dragged the index loser.

At close, the KSE-100 settled at 48,585.72, lower by 25.46 points or 0.05%.

On Thursday, KSE-100 index had retreated from a six-year high to close negative, ending a 10-session positive run.

Sectors driving the benchmark KSE 100 index south on Friday included fertiliser, banking, technology and communication, cement, and textile. OMCs, however, witnessed some marginal gain.

Company-wise UBL, ENGRO, and Systems Limited were top negative contributors, brokerage house Capital Stake stated in its daily market report.

On the economic front, the Senate on Friday passed the National Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism Authority Bill, 2023, a day after it was cleared by the National Assembly.

The bill aims to deal with offences pertaining to money-laundering and to further strengthen existing laws to effectively check illegal/corrupt practices which have a negative impact on the economy.

The Pakistani rupee marginally strengthened against the US dollar with an appreciation of 0.08% in the inter-bank market on Friday. At close, the currency settled at 286.97, an increase of Re0.23, as per the State Bank of Pakistan.

The country’s total liquid foreign exchange reserves fell by $70 million during the last week. The total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $13.464 billion as of Jul 27, 2023 compared to $13.534 billion as of July 21, 2023.

Volume on the all-share index decreased to 331.1 million from 526 million on Thursday.

The value of shares traded also decreased to Rs12.5 billion from Rs19.03 billion in the previous session.

Cnergyico PK remained the volume leader with 66.5 million shares, followed by Oil & Gas Dev. with 27.9 million shares and Pak Refinery with 25.8 million shares.

Shares of 337 companies were traded on Friday, of which 130 registered an increase, 184 recorded a fall, and 23 remained unchanged.