KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw a positive close on Friday as the benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 257.79 points, or 0.17%, to settle at 149,493.05. The index remained mostly positive throughout the day, touching an intraday high of 150,465.17 points.
Buying interest was observed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refinery. Index-heavy stocks traded in green, including ARL, HUBCO, PSO, SNGPL, SSGC, MEBL, NBP, and UBL.
The total volume of the KSE-100 Index was 335.53 million shares. Of the 100 companies in the index, 59 closed in the green, 41 saw declines, and none remained unchanged.
Sector-wise, the KSE-100 Index was bolstered by Commercial Banks (+106.27pts), Fertilizer (+76.68pts), Oil & Gas Exploration Companies (+72.67pts), Cement (+35.56pts), and Oil & Gas Marketing Companies (+35.39pts). Meanwhile, it faced pressure from Pharmaceuticals (-111.35pts), Investment Banks/Securities Companies (-42.67pts), Cable & Electrical Goods (-23.09pts), Textile Composite (-16.97pts), and Chemicals (-14.19pts).
In the broader market, the All-Share Index closed at 91,988.09, marking a modest gain of 74.03 points or 0.08%. The total market volume was 802.01 million shares, down from the previous session’s 1,062.99 million shares, with a traded value of Rs40.45 billion, reflecting a decrease of Rs15.37 billion.
On Thursday, PSX came under heavy selling pressure, as profit-taking erased early gains and pulled the benchmark lower, ending an extended streak of record highs. The KSE-100 Index closed at 149,235.26 points, down 1,355.74 points or 0.9%.
As of now, the KSE-100 has gained 23,866 points or 19.00% during the fiscal year, and 34,366 points or 29.85% year-to-date.
