KARACHI: The stock market continued the upward trajectory on Friday and ended the week on a positive note as investors remained optimistic and continued to push for valuable investments.
According to amended rules, the stock exchange would hold only one session of trading on Friday. The indices rallied as trading began earlier today and continued the upward trend before trading was suspended. The benchmark KSE 100 index increased by 839.12 points, an increase of 2.73 percent, and closed at 31,621.79 points. The total volume of shares traded was 186.49 million valued at Rs8.512bn.
Meanwhile, the lower bench KSE 30 index also increased by 467.87 points (3.45%) and closed at 14,014.75 points. The total volume of scripts was 105.785 million. The share price increase in most sectors as investors flocked to the stock market. The total active stock were Hascol (7.82%), BOP (3.9%), Unity (0.57%), PPL (7.52%), Power (5.31%), PIBTL (6.14%), and FCCL (5.09%).
There was increased investment in the oil and gas sector as the global price of crude has risen. US President Donald Trump heralded the end of the price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia. The Brent North Sea crude shot by 46 percent hitting $36.29 per barrel. It quickly came down to 20 percent after Russia denied reports that it would slash production.
The upward trend at the stock market over the week has bewildered investors as bourse seems to withhold the impact of the coronavirus crises and has surpassed the 31,000 level. There has been optimism after the inflation rate for the month of March fell to 10.2 percent. This was lower than market expectations and raised interest in equity markets by investors.