KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a rollercoaster ride on Friday, with the indices changing directions throughout the day before ending in the green zone.
The market remained mixed throughout the trading week with the benchmark KSE-100 Index settling higher only by 0.79pc after five trading sessions.
On Friday, the KSE-100 Index jumped by 399.05 points to touch its intraday at 41,054.42. However, failing to sustain its gains, the index dipped by 161.38 points and recorded its intraday low at 40,493.99. It finally settled higher by 177.62 points at 40,832.99. The KMI-30 Index swelled by 465.76 points to close at 65,875.09 while the KSE All Share Index gained 251.53 points, ending at 29,118 points. The advancers-to-decliners ratio was almost in equal proportion, with 155 advancers and 163 decliners.
The overall market volumes dropped to 180.46 million, while the traded value stood at $55.08 million. Right Shares of Hascol Petroleum Limited (HASCOLR1 -6.18pc) topped the volume chart, followed by Fauji Foods Limited (FFL -2.94pc) and Unity Foods Limited (UNITY +1.36pc). The scripts had exchanged 18.56 million, 14.17 million and 8.73 million shares, respectively.
Among the top traded sectors, the oil & gas marketing sector topped with 32.89 million in cumulative volumes, followed by cement sector (volume of 18.44 million) and food & personal care products sector (volume of 16.06 million).
Investment banks/companies/securities sector added 2.28pc to its market capitalization, while technology & communication sector slipped 1.48pc to become the top loser.
On the economic front, Pakistan’s total liquid foreign exchange reserves reached $17.66 billion after the State Bank of Pakistan’s reserves touched $10.89 billion on December 13, 2019 – the highest level since 4th May 2018. Meanwhile, the current account deficit was down by 72.60pc in November 2019 and 73pc between July-November 2019, as compared to the same period of 2018.
Further, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board completed the first review of Pakistan’s Extended Fund Facility. The completion of the review would allow the authorities to draw SDR 328 million (about $452.4 million), bringing total disbursements to SDR 1,044 million (about $1,440 million).
