The recent visit of the Chinese Vice President, and launch of the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and Thursday's announcement of a new five-year trade agreement with Iran all boosted investor confidence as the bourse surged.
The day opened with the index at 48,764.55 points and positive sentiment. Soon after trading opened, the index started driving upwards, gaining some 639.95 points, peaking at 49,404.50 points.
This was the first time since June 2017 that the bourse enjoyed a period in the 49,000 points region.
The index then started sliding down and took a tumble in the second session below the 49,000-point barrier, finishing at 48,611.18 points, down by 153.37 points from the previous day.
Total traded volume slipped from 555.05 million shares in the previous session to 522.89 million. Out of the total scrips traded, 55.32% belonged to KSE 100 scrips.
The highest participation was witnessed in Cynergyico PK Limited (CNERGY -1.60%), with 33.19 million shares traded. Followed by K-Electric Limited (KEL -2.12%) and Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDC +0.31%). The scrips had 25.43 million shares and 24.51 million shares exchanged, respectively.
Sectors driving the benchmark KSE 100 index into the red zone included, Banking sector (82.90 pts), Technology and Communication sector (80.58 pts) and Chemical sector (35.01 pts). Company-wise, United Bank Limited (UBL 90.65 pts), Meezan Bank Limited (MEBL 57.25 pts), and TRG Pakistan Limited (TRG 45.78 pts) led the index south.
The Technology and Communication sector lost 2.18% in its cumulative market capitalization. Systems Limited (SYS 1.12%), TRG Pakistan Limited (TRG 4.00%), Pakistan Telecommunication Limited (PTC 2.04%) and Avanceon Limited (AVN 3.23%), all closed in red.