Some say that the Pakistan Stock Exchange has more in common with the Islamic calendar rather than the Gregorian calendar. It was thus no surprise that the advent of the new Islamic year, among other economic positives, saw positive sentiment in the market on Friday, as the pre-weekend celebrations saw a significant rally and saw it cross the 46,000-point psychological barrier for the first time in over a year.
The index, which has been in a slump for much of the week, despite crossing the 45,000-point psychological barrier, saw a late flurry on Friday afternoon.
The rally started in the middle of the morning session before Friday's extended prayer and lunch breaks.
Having started the day at 45,398.31 points, the index fell to a day low of 45,391.55 points before the rally began.
The exchange climbed 473.74 points, up to 45,872.05 points before the break.
Once the session resumed after the break, it continued its momentum. A post-break rise of 250.11 points saw the index peak at a day high of 46,122.16 points. This was the first time since April 2022 that the market had reached such a level.
The index, though, settled the day below the 46,000 point threshold at 45,920.73, but it was still higher by 522.42 points compared to Thursday's closing value.
The positive sentiment was driven primarily by the rollover of the $600 million worth of Chinese loans recently, and another cash injection from the UAE and the IMF meant that the country's forex reserves have swelled to $14.065 billion. This was up some $4.23 billion on a week-on-week basis.
Overall market volumes grew by some 464.12 million shares in the previous session to 503.45 million shares.
Worldcall Telecom Limited (WTL +0.70%) saw the greatest volume of shares traded, with some 106.13 million shares.
It was followed by Fauji Foods Limited (FFL +1.03%) with 44.23 million shares exchanged and Cynergyico PK Limited (CNERGY +8.09%) with 35.91 million shares traded.
In terms of positive contributors, the banking sector contributed some 359.16 points, followed by the chemical sector at 57.55 points and the Technology and Communication sector at 34.53 points.
Company-wise, United Bank Limited (UBL) contributed some 102.75 points, Colgate Palmolive Pakistan Limited (COLG) 60.35 points and Meezan Bank Limited (MEBL) 58.54 points.
The commercial banking sector gained 3.41% in its cumulative market capitalization.
Meezan Bank Limited (MEBL 3.98%), United Bank Limited (UBL 4.74%), MCB Bank Limited (MCB 2.91%) and Habib Bank Limited (HBL 1.31%) all closed in green.
The index, which has been in a slump for much of the week, despite crossing the 45,000-point psychological barrier, saw a late flurry on Friday afternoon.
The rally started in the middle of the morning session before Friday's extended prayer and lunch breaks.
Having started the day at 45,398.31 points, the index fell to a day low of 45,391.55 points before the rally began.
The exchange climbed 473.74 points, up to 45,872.05 points before the break.
Once the session resumed after the break, it continued its momentum. A post-break rise of 250.11 points saw the index peak at a day high of 46,122.16 points. This was the first time since April 2022 that the market had reached such a level.
The index, though, settled the day below the 46,000 point threshold at 45,920.73, but it was still higher by 522.42 points compared to Thursday's closing value.
The positive sentiment was driven primarily by the rollover of the $600 million worth of Chinese loans recently, and another cash injection from the UAE and the IMF meant that the country's forex reserves have swelled to $14.065 billion. This was up some $4.23 billion on a week-on-week basis.
Overall market volumes grew by some 464.12 million shares in the previous session to 503.45 million shares.
Worldcall Telecom Limited (WTL +0.70%) saw the greatest volume of shares traded, with some 106.13 million shares.
It was followed by Fauji Foods Limited (FFL +1.03%) with 44.23 million shares exchanged and Cynergyico PK Limited (CNERGY +8.09%) with 35.91 million shares traded.
In terms of positive contributors, the banking sector contributed some 359.16 points, followed by the chemical sector at 57.55 points and the Technology and Communication sector at 34.53 points.
Company-wise, United Bank Limited (UBL) contributed some 102.75 points, Colgate Palmolive Pakistan Limited (COLG) 60.35 points and Meezan Bank Limited (MEBL) 58.54 points.
The commercial banking sector gained 3.41% in its cumulative market capitalization.
Meezan Bank Limited (MEBL 3.98%), United Bank Limited (UBL 4.74%), MCB Bank Limited (MCB 2.91%) and Habib Bank Limited (HBL 1.31%) all closed in green.