Daily Times

Pakistan stock exchange has ended the week on a positive note after another volatile trading session on Friday, with the indices shifting sides before settling in the green. The benchmark KSE-100 Index recorded its one week return at -1.23pc.

After a positive start to the day, the KSE-100 index dipped to intraday low at 42,250.56 after losing 256.39 points. The index oscillated in both directions thereon and recorded its intraday high of 42,707.43. It closed higher by 126.08 points at 42,633.03. The KMI-30 Index gained 299.64 points to close at 68,956.76, while the KSE All Share Index jumped 0.25pc, concluding the day at 29,529.89. Out of the total traded scripts, 164 advanced and 141 declined.

Overall, trading volumes decreased to 173 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 230.8 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs6.7 billion. Shares of 350 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 178 stocks closed higher, 152 declined and 20 remained unchanged. The index was driving low amid lack of triggers and political uncertainty however, Investors pinned their hopes on Pakistan’s likely exclusion from the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list by June 2020 as they expected diplomatic support in the FATF meeting to be held in Paris next month. On the other hand, foreigners invested massively during the day. Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of $6.6Million billion worth of shares during the trading session while mutual funds bought $3.7 million worth of equities.

Sectors that propped up the index included cement by 40.93 points, oil & gas exploration 29.08 points and power generation & distribution 18.50 points. Among the companies, Pak Petroleum, Bank AL Habib Limited and Lucky Cement Limited remained the top positive contributors to the index. The volume table was led by Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited followed by Al- Shaheer Corporation Limited Right Shares and Hascol Petroleum Limited. The scripts had exchanged 17.66 million, 14.03 million and 13.90 million shares, respectively.