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The Pakistan Stock Exchange ended the last trading session of the week with moderate gains, with the benchmark KSE-100 index gaining 120 points, or 0.25pc, to reach 48,409.35 points.
132.74 million shares of indexed companies changed hands in the Friday session, with a total worth of nearly Rs14.34 billion. Volumes were almost 30pc higher, while the value of shares traded nearly doubled from the day before.
Overall, 212.87m shares were traded on the PSX, with a total worth of nearly Rs16.58bn. 371 scrips were traded on the exchange, of which 208 gained in value, 146 declined and 17 remained unchanged.
Banking scrips were the focus of investors' attention, attracting more activity than cements, fertilizers, technology and engineering stocks combined.
Volumes were led by:
Bank of Punjab: 30.63m shares traded (+3.44pc);
HBL Bank: 15.58m shares traded (+2.16pc);
Fauji Cement: 9.41m shares traded (+0.51pc);
TRG Pak Ltd: 8.88m shares traded (0.44pc); and,
Engro Fertiliser: 7.64m shares traded (0.37pc).
"Stocks showed recovery as investors cheered World Bank's approval of $450m credit for socio-economic progress and receipt of $200m in US Coalition Support Funds," analyst Ahsan Mehanti said.
"Surge in global crude prices supported selected oil stocks. Pre-budget speculations in cement, banking and auto stocks played a catalyst role in bullish close," he added.
