The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended a volatile trading week on a positive note on Friday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining 266.28 points, or 0.16%, to close at 170,765.22.
The index opened higher and moved toward the 171,000-point level before selling pressure pushed it below 170,000 during the morning session. It touched an intraday low of 169,890.56 before recovering around midday.
Fresh buying later lifted the benchmark to an intraday high of 171,159.73. However, profit-taking near the close limited the gains.
Topline Securities said investors remained cautious amid elevated crude oil prices and limited progress in US-Iran negotiations. HBL, UBL, BAFL, BAHL and PSO were the major contributors, adding a combined 206 points to the index.
MEBL, FFC, HUBC, PTC and CNERGY, meanwhile, remained among the major drags and collectively pulled the index down by 152 points.
According to Topline Securities, the government’s signing of long-awaited refinery upgrade agreements was the key development of the week. Agreements were signed with four of the country’s five oil refineries, including ATRL, PRL, NRL and CNERGY.
The agreements are expected to attract around $5 billion in investment over the next five years, focusing on refinery modernization, increased production of cleaner Euro-V fuels and reduced furnace-oil output.
Investor sentiment also remained influenced by developments in global oil markets and regional tensions. On Thursday, the KSE-100 had fallen 1,733.57 points, or 1.01%, to close at 170,498.95 amid rising crude prices, limited progress in US-Iran talks and concerns over a possible US diesel export ban.
In international markets, Asian stocks remained mixed on Friday as a bond selloff pushed longer-term US Treasury yields to two-decade highs, increasing global borrowing costs. Brent crude remained above $100 per barrel as markets assessed inflation risks and expectations for further Federal Reserve rate hikes.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee continued to strengthen slightly against the US dollar, closing at 277.16 in the interbank market, up Re0.01.
Trading activity declined during the session. Volume on the All-Share Index fell to 482.76 million shares from 759.97 million in the previous session, while the total value of traded shares dropped to Rs. 19.28 billion from Rs. 27.54 billion.
Cnergyico PK was the volume leader with 108.19 million shares, followed by WorldCall Telecom with 28.94 million shares and Pak Refinery with 27.56 million shares.
A total of 493 companies traded on Friday, with 219 stocks closing higher, 217 declining and 57 remaining unchanged.
