BRIndex100 inches up

Pakistan Stock Exchange Friday witnessed a mixed trend due to investors' lack of interest. BRIndex100 closed at 4,319.78 points, up 4.39 points or 0.1 percent. BRIndex100 touched intraday high of 4,335.14 and intraday low of 4,303.80 points. Volumes stood at 77.244 million shares. BRIndex30 gained 143.49 points or 0.63 percent to close at 23,017.97 points with a turnover of 53.418 million shares.
The KSE-100 index lost 20.31 points to close the week at 40,486.67 points. Trading activity remained thin as daily volumes on the ready counter decreased to 93.001 million shares as compared to 123.619 million shares traded Thursday.
The market capitalization increased by Rs 3 billion to Rs 8.042 trillion. Out of total 316 active scrips, 152 closed in negative, 150 in positive while the value of 14 stocks remained unchanged.
Lotte Chemical was the volume leader with 10.009 million shares. However, it lost Re 0.34 to close at Rs 16.31 followed by Bank of Punjab that gained Re 0.23 to close at Rs 13.59 with 5.841 million shares. Service Ind Limited and Pak Suzuki were the top gainers with Rs 30.00 and Rs 14.25, respectively to close at Rs 800.00 and Rs 301.67. Rafhan Maize and Siemens Pak were the top losers with Rs 100.00 and Rs 14.00, respectively to close at Rs 7,200.00 and Rs 778.00.
BR Commercial Banks Index increased by 47.2 points or 0.55 percent to close at 8,694.40 points with total turnover of 15.865 million shares. BR Cement Index gained 8.71 points or 0.2 percent to close at 4,432.31 points with 8.088 million shares.
BR Oil and Gas Index decreased by 16.65 points or 0.34 percent to close at 4,941.61 points with 5.605 million shares. BR Tech. & Comm. Index lost 3.11 percent or 0.3 percent to close at 1,025.35 points with 4.202 million shares. BR Power Generation and Distribution Index closed at 6,376.07 points, down 4.55 points or 0.07 percent with 3.971 million shares.
Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said that the stocks closed flat amid pressure in selected scrips across the board on investor concerns over prevailing economic uncertainty. Institutional support remained in oil stocks amid surging global oil prices and speculation on likely $21 billion Saudi Investment on visit of Saudi Crown Prince this weekend. He said investors concerns on likely hike in power tariffs, surging circular debt and higher fiscal debt over 6.3 percent of GDP played a catalyst role in bearish close.