The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw a roller-coaster trading session on Friday and the KSE-100 Index closed flat after a volatile ride.
The KSE-100 started the session positive, hitting an intra-day high of 79,173.94.
However, the bears dominated the market in the second half and pushed the index back to below 79,000.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 78,801.43, marginally up by 8.01 points or 0.01%.
“The equity market closed the day relatively flat, with the benchmark index showing volatility throughout the session,” brokerage house Ismail Iqbal Securities said in its post-market report.
“However, the pharmaceutical sector attracted attention as companies reported improved results following the deregulation of non-essential drug prices.”
Sectors that contributed positively included pharma, chemical, banking, OMCs, and textile. Meanwhile, cement, auto, E&P, power, and tech sectors closed in the red.
Topline Securities said the KSE-100 largely traded in positive zone on Friday.
“However, some profit taking was observed in closing hours of trade, as the index declined to close on a flat note,” it said.
On Thursday, the KSE-100 gained 533 points on a bullish run that analysts attributed to lower cut-off yields.
On week-on-week basis, the KSE-100 gained 0.97%.
“This gain can largely be attributed to decline in yields in the range of 74-148 bps in T-Bill auction held during the week, reflecting investor’s expectation of decline in policy rate given downward trajectory in inflation numbers,” Topline said in its market report.
Globally, European stock markets rose at the open on Friday ahead of a highly-anticipated speech by US Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell.
London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.3 percent to 8,314.62 points, while the Paris CAC 40 added almost 0.4 points to 7,550.16 and Frankfurt’s DAX advanced by 0.3 percent to 18,548.79.
China stocks also gained after three straight sessions of losses, while Hong Kong shares fell in conjunction with regional peers amid caution ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech.
Indian shares were little changed on Friday, tracking a pause in the global equities’ rally ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s address, as investors awaited confirmation of their expectations for a US rate cut next month.
The Pakistani rupee registered minor improvement against the US dollar, appreciating 0.06% in the inter-bank market on Friday. At close, the currency settled at 278.50, a gain of Re0.17 against the US dollar.
Volume on the all-share index decreased to 682.41 million from 804.26 million on Thursday.
However, the value of shares increased to Rs18.17 billion from Rs16.97 billion in the previous session.
Kohinoor Spinning was the volume leader with 81.71 million shares, followed by K-Electric Ltd with 71.85 million shares, and Pace (Pak) Ltd with 36.74 million shares.
Shares of 451 companies were traded on Friday, of which 192 registered an increase, 199 recorded a fall, while 60 remained unchanged.
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