After economic and political volatility throughout 2022, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) finished off the year with a positive finish as the benchmark KSE-100 Index ended well over the 40,000 level.
The index traded in the green for most part of the day while volumes surged from the previous session.
At close on Friday, the benchmark index settled at 40,420.45, an increase of 673.09 points or 1.69%.
Index-heavy oil & gas, automobiles, commercial banks and fertilisers ended with gains, while pharmaceuticals were in the red zone.
On Thursday, the KSE-100 Index closed at 39,747.36, an increase of 467.93 points or 1.19%.
As per a report released by Capital Stake, the stock market witnessed another booming session on the last trading session of the year.
"A bullish trend prevailed in the market as investors anticipated the completion of the ninth review of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)," read the report.
As per Arif Habib Limited (AHL), the equity bourse, marked by global and domestic economic and political uncertainty, posted a weak performance (down 9.4% YoY) during CY22.
On the economic front, during the week ended December 23, 2022, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reserves recorded a further decline of $294 million to $ 5.822 billion as compared to $6.116 billion on Dec 16, 2022.
The decline was recorded due to external debt repayment.
Moreover, Pakistan’s rupee ended with a marginal loss for the ninth successive session against the US dollar, to settle at 226.43 after a fall of Re0.02 or 0.01%.
Sectors driving the benchmark index upwards included banking (204.08 points), oil and gas exploration (123.31 points) and miscellaneous (61.71 points).
Volume on the all-share index inched up to 284.5 million from 227.8 million on Thursday. The value of shares traded increased to Rs7.9 billion from Rs7 billion recorded in the previous session.
K-Electric Limited was the volume leader with 69.8 million shares, followed by Pak Petroleum with 11.9 million shares, and WorldCall Telecom with 11.76 million shares.
Shares of 329 companies were traded on Friday, of which 211 registered an increase, 105 recorded a fall, and 13 remained unchanged.