KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange remained bearish till midday as the benchmark 100-index dropped 29 points to reach 42818 points on Friday.
The stocks opened on bearish note and shed 87 points to reach 42759 level in early trading.
On Thursday, the volatility prevailed in the stock market as the 100-share index remained range-bound, trading between -50 to +373 points, and finally closing up 300 points at 42,847 points.
However hefty buying was witnessed in the eleventh hour as investors took the opportunity to accumulate stocks on attractive levels. Volume traded was slightly better than Wednesday’s, where PAEL (+1.10%) was the volume leader for the day with 14m shares of the stock changing hands. The components of the export package are estimated to provide competitive benefits of around Rs65b annually. OGDC (+1.79%), MCB (+2.02%), POL (+1.82%) and HBL (+1.02%) were the major leaders for the day cumulatively contributing +124 points to the index.
Banking sector led the gains as sector heavyweights such as MCB (+2.02%), BAFL (+1.72%), FABL (+4.76%) and HBL (+1.02%) closed in the green zone. Investors’ interest was witnessed in the E&P sector despite crude oil prices edging lower in the international market. OGDC (+1.79%), POL (+1.82%) and PPL (+1.22%) were the major movers of the aforementioned sector.