RECORDER REPORT
KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended Friday on a positive note, with selective buying across key sectors driving moderate market volatility.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index rose to 168,990.07 points, gaining 500.44 points or 0.30 percent from Thursday’s close of 168,489.63. During the session, it recorded an intraday high of 169,988.62 and a low of 168,613.41 points.
Meanwhile, BRIndex100 settled at 17,712.26 points, up 56.94 points or 0.32 percent, with a total volume of 1,331.31 million shares. BRIndex30 rose 116.95 points or 0.21 percent to 56,975.62, trading 974.31 million shares.
According to Topline Securities, some intraday profit-taking was observed in the second half of trading, as investors booked profits ahead of the weekend. The brokerage highlighted that FFC, UBL, HUBC, SYS, and AICL were the largest contributors to the index, adding a cumulative 980 points, while profit-taking in the banking sector, led by MEBL, MCB, HBL, and BAHL, collectively subtracted 577 points. Traded value-wise, HUBC (Rs 10bn), PSO (Rs 5.4bn), BOP (Rs 4.53bn), ATRL (Rs 3.93bn), and FFC (Rs 2.6bn) dominated activity.
Market turnover in the ready counter reached 1,570 million shares with a traded value of Rs 78.67 billion, up from Rs 70.19 billion on Thursday. Overall market capitalization increased slightly to Rs 19.660 trillion from Rs 19.655 trillion. In the ready market, 201 companies advanced, 254 declined, and 30 remained unchanged.
Cnergyico PK led trading volumes with 211.44 million shares, closing at Rs 9.07. It was followed by Bank of Punjab with 131.82 million shares at Rs 33.50, and WorldCall Telecom with 103.92 million shares at Rs 1.76.
Among major gainers, PIA Holding Company Limited (B) surged by Rs 823.67 to Rs 25,849.70, while Nestle Pakistan Limited rose by Rs 199.85 to Rs 8,601.59. On the downside, Rafhan Maize Products fell by Rs 88.86 to Rs 9,809.84 and Hoechst Pakistan Limited declined by Rs 44.48 to Rs 3,983.07.
Sectoral performance remained mixed. The BR Automobile Assembler Index surged 515.34 points (2.06 percent) to 25,527.52, while the BR Cement Index inched up 21.39 points (0.16 percent) to 13,675.57. The BR Commercial Banks Index declined 496.27 points (0.97 percent) to 50,888.76. In the power and energy segment, the BR Power Generation and Distribution Index rose 276.6 points (0.94 percent) to 29,650.56, while the BR Oil and Gas Index fell 30.99 points (0.21 percent) to 14,863.67. The BR Tech & Communication Index added 18.17 points to close at 3,793.57.
