Equities closed the week on a positive note on Friday with the benchmark KSE100 Index gaining 170 points, closing at the 35,573 level, up 0.5 percent. The bourse kicked off on a negative note, making a low of -107 point, but later recovered after making a high of +256 points. An equity analyst at IIS Securities said KSE-100 index remained positive in initial half of the session on Friday, but came down slightly as the rupee came under pressure weakening to PKR 155.85/USD, compared to yesterday’s close of 152.90/USD. Cements and EPs were major contributors of index’s gains, collectively contributing 139.28 points Friday. Moreover, Fitch affirmed Pakistan’s long term foreign currency default currency rating at ‘B-‘ with stable outlook. Fitch also sees CAD to narrow to 3% of GDP in FY20. Cements and E&Ps were the major gainers towards the index, where DGKC (+5.0%), MLCF (+5.0%), KOHC (+5.0%) and CHCC (+5.0%) closed at their respective upper circuits, whereas LUCK (+3.8%) also closed in green from the aforementioned sector. In the E&Ps, PPL (+0.6%), OGDC (+1.3%) and POL (+1.2%) closed in green. Mixed sentiments were seen in the Financials where HBL (-0.4%), UBL (-0.8%) and MCB (-0.3%) closed in the red; however BAHL (+1.8%) closed positive. Average daily traded value stood at $48 million, up 31 percent and volume stood at 168 million shares, up 9 percent. Major contribution to total market volume came from MLCF (+5.0%), TRG (+5.5%) and FCCL (+6.3%). Maaz Mulla, an equity analyst, expects local equity market to remain choppy and volatile.