Karachi: The Pakistan Stock Exchange ended trading on a positive note on Friday with the benchmark KSE-100 index gaining 373.73 points to close at 177,696.50 points.
The market witnessed volatility during the trading session. The KSE-100 index opened at 177,575.22 points and touched a high of 178,042.78 points during the day. The index closed at a low of 177,165.27 points.
A total of 304.87 million shares were traded on the KSE-100 Of the 100 companies included in the index, 38 shares rose, 58 declined, while shares of 4 companies closed unchanged.
Banking and technology companies played a major role in the market rally. Systems Limited provided the biggest positive support to the index by 262.48 points. Bank of Punjab added 118.44 points, Habib Bank added 97.02 points, Meezan Bank added 78.74 points and Interloop added 37.13 points.
On the other hand, service industries had a negative impact on the index by 73.46 points. Pakistan Oilfields, United Bank, Engro Fertilizer and Sazgar Engineering were also among the prominent stocks that kept the index under pressure.
On a sectoral basis, commercial banks provided positive support to the KSE-100 by 318.77 points. The technology and communication sector contributed 259.58 points. Refinery, investment and textile sectors also contributed to the positive performance of the index.
On the other hand, there was a negative trend in the leather and tanneries, cement, fertilizer, oil and gas marketing and engineering sectors.
Shares of 494 companies were traded in the entire ready market. Of these, 202 companies increased their shares, 257 decreased while 35 companies remained unchanged. The total trading volume was 658.33 million shares while the trading value was recorded at Rs 31.45 billion.
The All Share Index also closed at 107,705.17 points, up 159.56 points or 0.15 percent.
On the other hand, the KMI-30 index also gained. This index closed at 251,798.59 points after increasing by 875.46 points or 0.35 percent.
Overall, the KSE-100 ended Friday’s session on a positive note, but the number of decliners in the market remained high. This shows that the index’s rally was mostly affected by buying in large and prominent companies, while investors in the broader market remained cautious.
