The KSE-100 Index increased by 102.67 points or 0.24 percent to close at 43,167.76 points. Trading activity remained low as daily volumes on the ready counter decreased to 211.406 million shares as compared to 229.862 million shares traded Thursday.
The market capitalization increased by Rs 21 billion to Rs 8.085 trillion. Out of total 357 active scrips, 179 closed in positive, 153 in negative while the value of 25 stocks remained unchanged.
Bank of Punjab was the volume leader with 27.827 million shares. However, the scrip lost Re 0.23 to close at Rs 13.90 followed by TRG Pak that gained Re 0.35 to close at Rs 28.67 with 23.977 million shares.
Philip Morris Pak and Pak Services were the top gainers with Rs 77.10 and Rs 47.02 respectively to close at Rs 2,457.00 and Rs 987.52. Sapphire Textile and Shezan International were the top losers with Rs 44.00 and Rs 23.29 respectively to close at Rs 936.00 and Rs 531.71.
BR Automobile Assembler Index surged by 54.13 points or 0.88 percent to close at 6,198.45 points with total turnover of 7.613 million shares.
BR Cement Index gained 7.03 points or 0.18 percent to close at 3,933.54 points with 20.487 million shares.
BR Commercial Banks Index inched up by 2.4 points or 0.02 percent to close at 10,260.47 points with 46.887 million shares. BR Power Generation and Distribution Index lost 14.61 points or 0.25 percent to close at 5,829.60 points with 9.187 million shares.
BR Oil and Gas Index increased by 17.46 points or 0.35 percent to close at 5,050.26 points with 11.041 million shares.
BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 1,069.07 points, up 7.04 points or 0.66 percent with 42.713 million shares.
An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the week ended nearly where it began, ie, near 43,000 level. During the week, the index did slip towards 42,800 but closed the week above 43,000.
Among OMCs, PSO made an upward move whereas E&P and Refineries remained largely unchanged and declined respectively.
Throughout the week, political uncertainty reverberated that cautioned otherwise optimistic investors and therefore a halt in index performance. By the end of session, news of further foreign inflows of $500 million in T-Bills broke that proved to be single highest inflow in a single day yet.
Positive sentiment was observed in the equity market as well but MoC activity pulled the index back. Banking sector again led the pack with 46.9 million shares, followed by Technology (42.7 million shares) and Cement (20.5 million shares).
Sectors contributing to the performance include Others (up 21 points), O&GMCs (up 17 points), Autos (up 17 points), Fertilizer (up 11 points), Textile (down 11 points).
Stocks that contributed positively include PSEL (up 21 points), PSO (up 16 points), THALL (up 13 points), MEBL (up 13 points) and ENGRO (up 13 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include MCB (down 19 points), DAWH (down 9 points), BOP (down 5 points), HUBC (down 5 points) and NBP (down 5 points).