ISLAMABAD: The buying rally continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining 685.52 points on Friday.
The KSE-100 index closed at 114,398.69 points, up from the previous day’s close of 113,713.17 points, a positive change of 0.60 per cent.
Buying was observed in key sectors including commercial banks, fertilizer, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refinery. Index-heavy stocks including ARL, NRL, HUBCO, PSO, SNGPL, POL, PPL, HBL, MCB and NBP traded in the green.
The positive momentum comes as investors expect further rate cuts by the State Bank in its upcoming Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), scheduled for Monday.
On Friday a total of 404,365,056 shares were entertained during the day as compared to 373,093,763 shares the last working day, whereas the price of shares stood at Rs 27.842 billion against Rs 26.249 billion on the previous trading day.
As many as 433 companies transacted their shares in the stock market, 219 of them registered gains and 151 met losses, whereas the share price of 63 companies remained unchanged.
The three top trading companies were Fauji Cement with 57,215,949 shares at Rs 45.99 per share followed by Sui South Gas with 23,758,961 shares at Rs 35.50 per share whereas Maple Leaf settled with 22,469,287 shares at Rs 56.63 per share.
Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited witnessed a maximum increase of Rs 151.15 per share closing at Rs 23,320.15 whereas Ismail Industries Limited was the runner-up with Rs 83.25 rise in its share price to close at Rs 1,886.94.
JDW Sugar Mills Limited witnessed a maximum decline of Rs 38.84 per share price, closing at Rs 779.16, whereas the runner-up was Services Industries Limited with a fall of Rs 34.70 in its per share price to Rs 1,434.52.
On Thursday, the PSX made a strong comeback, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining over 1,450 points.
Globally, investors were met with some calm on Friday after a turbulent week besieged by US trade policy confusion and a global rise in borrowing costs, as a steep selloff in bonds abated and currencies steadied, though Wall Street stocks tracked lower.
Overnight, the Nasdaq confirmed it has been in a correction since reaching its peak last December, as US stocks grapple with challenges stemming from a dimming growth outlook in the world’s largest economy and uncertainty surrounding US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.
