KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange on Friday closed the week on positive note as the benchmark KSE 100-share index recorded an increase of 146.79 points or 0.36% to settle at 40,998.59.
However, the market experienced another volatile session as investors waited for the upcoming monetary policy.
Earlier, trading began on a positive note, but stock sell-off in early hours dragged the index down by over 320 points in the first half because of the economic slowdown in Pakistan projected by Fitch Ratings and the Asian Development Bank.
The bourse staged a recovery in the second half but volatility emerged later, leading to oscillation of the index between red and green zones.
Volumes remained subdued as 146 million shares changed hands during the day. The Bank of Punjab (+3.86%) led the volumes with trading in more than 11 million shares.
Habib Bank (+2.71%), Bank Alfalah (+0.81%), Bank AL Habib (+1.52%) and United Bank (+0.02%) were major movers of the sector.
In the cement sector, investors had mixed sentiments as Lucky Cement (+0.98%) and Pioneer Cement (+1.19%) closed positive whereas DG Khan Cement (-0.82%), Maple Leaf Cement (-1.85%), Kohat Cement (-0.03%) and Fauji Cement (-1.76%) were in the red zone.
The auto sector showed a downward trajectory on the back of news that the Senate Standing Committee on Finance had rejected the government’s proposal to withdraw the ban on vehicle purchase by non-filers of tax returns. Indus Motor (-2.48%) and Honda Atlas Cars (-4.33%) were major losers of the sector.
Overall, trading volumes decreased to 145.9 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 149.4 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs6.4 billion.
Shares of 372 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 177 stocks closed higher, 178 declined and 17 remained unchanged.
The Bank of Punjab was the volume leader with 11.1 million shares, gaining Rs0.44 to close at Rs11.83. It was followed by K-Electric with 9.8 million shares, gaining Rs0.14 to close at Rs5.35 and Unity Foods with 8.5 million shares, losing Rs1.41 to close at Rs31.43.
