KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed a range-bound session on Friday with decent gains, as the indices swayed in both directions until finally settling in the green.
Global equity markets mostly witnessed an upward trend, whereas crude oil prices dipped lower from the previous close; WTI crude price declining 0.81pc to $40.62 while Brent crude price decreasing 0.90pc to $42.77.
“The market bore the pressure of political uncertainty on Friday, as the investors were found having apprehensions over opposition parties’ protests and sit-ins,” said report issued by AHL Ltd. “The midday announcement of HBL’s financial results somewhat turned the tide and helped the stock trade near recent high levels. Brisk buying was also observed in the cement sector in the last half hour, which helped the index close positive.”
MARKET SUMMARY
The benchmark KSE-100 Index started the day on a negative note, shedding 326.25 points to touch its intraday low at 39,742.25 before the midday break. However, the index managed to recover all loses in the afternoon session to mark its intraday high at 40,220.73 (+152.23 points). It finally settled higher by 95.52 points at 40,164.02.
Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index dropped 4.57 points to close at 63,763.29, whereas the KSE All Share Index gathered 14.54 points, settling at 28,471.79.
The overall market volumes declined from 324.75 million shares in the previous session to 254.12 million shares (-22pc). Average traded value also declined by 30pc, from $67.8 million to $47.6 million. Unity Foods Ltd (UNITY +6.22pc), Kohinoor Spinning Mills Ltd (KOSM +35.42pc) and Hascol Petroleum Ltd (HASCOL -0.64pc) topped the volume chart, exchanging 45.06 million, 20.74 million and 15.27 million shares, respectively.
Sectors that benchmark index afloat included banking (+128.93 points), textile composite (+12.04 points) and vanaspati & allied industries (+11.29 points). Among the companies, Habib Bank Ltd (HBL +98.80 points), Meezan Bank Ltd (MEBL +26.17 points) and Unity Foods Ltd (UNITY +11.29 points) remained the top contributors.
Adding 1.30pc to its cumulative market capitalization, the banking sector emerged as the session’s top performer, with HBL (+4.52pc), MEBL (+4.09pc) and Standard Chartered Bank (Pakistan) Ltd (SCBPL +2.51pc) posting decent gains.
