Daily Times

It finally broke free from its bonds, surging beyond the 47,000 mark on Friday by 573 points on heavier volume. The benchmark KSE-100 closed at 47,198.29, up 573.17 points or 1.23 percent.

This time around, the index managed to maintain its advances and rise beyond 47,000, which was also a hurdle. In the past, the KSE-100 was unable to overcome the 48,000-point barrier and was stuck in a restricted range for months.

On Thursday, the index had stopped a three-day losing trend, finishing 228 points higher than it had on Wednesday and Tuesday.

The KSE-100 stops its losing skid, while Octopus Digital’s initial public offering (IPO) creates headlines. On Friday, cement (131.03 points), technology and communication (126.34 points), and banks drove the benchmark KSE-100 index higher (113.24 points).

Volatility jumped from 396.43 to 427.45 billion shares on Friday, up from 396.43 billion shares on Thursday. From Rs16.54 billion to Rs18.18 billion, the value of shares exchanged during the day has also gone up.

It was Azgard Nine with 39.67 million shares, Service Fabrics with 33.53 million shares, and Maple Leaf with 26.96 million shares that dominated the market in terms of share volume. 528 firms’ shares were traded on Friday; 308 saw gains, 203 saw losses, and 17 saw no change.