KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday closed the week on a positive note, with the benchmark KSE-100 index gaining 295 points to close at 39,080 level.
Earlier, the stocks bounced back on Friday as the benchmark 100-index gained 255 points to reach 39039 level in early trading. The PSX continued its upward rally and added 388 points to take the tally to 39172 level till midday.
In all, more than 149.5 million shares worth Rs7.3 billion changed hands during the session. A total of 353 companies’ shares were traded, out of which 158 advances, 175 declined, whereas 20 remained unchanged.
The communication sector dominated trading with 29.8m shares traded, while oil and gas marketing and power generation and distribution sectors followed with 20.5m and 12.9m shares traded respectively.
Yesterday, the stocks saw a bloodbath and the benchmark KSE 100-index plunged by 1,123 points. Bears opened the floodgates yesterday where KSE 100-index fell below the 39,000-point level to close at 17-month low of 38,785 points. The KSE-100 index was 38,368 points on July 11, 2016, dealers said.
Investors showed interest at lower range of the prices. Major dampeners were commercial banks, fertilizer, oil & gas, E&P, cement and power sectors that contributed 772 points to the index decline, market participants said.
Top 10 index point decliners were HBL (down 3.9%), UBL (4.8%), ENGRO (3.4%), OGDC (2.2%), PSO (5%), POL (3.2%), FFC (3.8%), HUBC (3.1%), MCB (2.3%) & LUCK (2.3%); withholding 523 points from the index, while 8 stocks closed in the green, adding just 18 points to the index.
Volumes increased 9% d/d while value traded soared 58%. Stocks leading the volumes included KEL, WTL, DCL, BOP and TRG, contributing 54m shares, reflecting 33% share of the total volumes.
