Market watch: Stocks extend winning run, KSE-100 adds another 697 points

Benchmark increases 1.66% to settle at 42,786

KARACHI: Pakistan's stock market continued to enjoy a bull run on Friday with the KSE-100 Index climbing another 697.29 points or 1.66% to settle at 42,786.45, as investors cheered the outcome of the country's 11th general elections.

The winning streak, which started on Tuesday, has now stretched across three sessions, cumulatively adding 5.74% to the index that bore the brunt of political as well as economic turbulence in the past few months ahead of the elections.

However, as results continue to pour in, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) looks set to form the government with support from its allied parties and independent candidates.



The outcome is widely seen by investors as a positive for Pakistan that is heading towards another bailout due to a looming balance of payments crisis. The agenda is likely to be at the forefront of economic planning for the new government.

On Friday, stocks continued their winning run with index-heavy cement, steel, banks as well as oil and gas sectors attracting investor attention.

Overall, trading volumes increased to a healthy 385.5 million shares compared with Thursday's tally of 254 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs14 billion.