Stocks surge 673 points in year’s last session

Benchmark KSE-100 index largely traded in positive zone, closed at 40,420 points

The stock market remained significantly bullish on Friday, driven higher by year-end buying and expectation of completion of the ninth review of International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) loan programme.

Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) and Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) led the market’s rally on the back of news about the settlement of circular debt in the gas sector.

PPL’s stock soared by Rs4.75 and closed at Rs68.14 with trading in 11.9 million shares. Similarly, OGDC’s share price rose by Rs3.2 and settled at Rs79.66 with trading in 10.3 million shares.

While the last trading session of calendar year 2022 ended on a positive note, analysts believe that future upside will depend on developments on the political and economic fronts.

The benchmark KSE-100 index surged by 673.09 points, or 1.69%, to close at 40,420.45 by the end of trading.

“The KSE-100 index largely traded in the positive zone during the trading session,” said Topline Securities in its report.

Major contribution to the index came from PPL, Habib Bank, Pakistan Services, Oil and Gas Development Company and MCB Bank, as they cumulatively contributed 315 points.
K-Electric was the volume leader with trading in 69.8 million shares, Topline added.

Overall trading volumes increased to 284.5 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 227.8 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs7.96 billion.

Shares of 329 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 211 stocks closed higher, 105 declined and 13 remained unchanged.