KARACHI: Equities witnessed another range-bound session on Friday amid precarious political and economic conditions.

Arif Habib Ltd said investors chose to be cautious and resorted to sideways activity in the week’s last session. Volumes were flat while the cement sector remained in the spotlight following a substantial surge in despatch numbers.

Analyst Ahsan Mehanti said share prices rose on pre-budget speculations about the allocation of Rs900 billion under the Public Sector Development Programme and incentives for the real estate sector. Economic analysts’ expectation of the status quo on the key interest rate going forward despite high inflation also paved the way for a higher close.

As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 41,352.99 points, up 86.22 points or 0.21 per cent from the preceding session.

The overall trading volume decreased 0.2pc to 99.7 million shares. The traded value went up 16.5pc to $11.7m on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Pakistan International Bulk Terminal Ltd (10.3m shares), WorldCall Telecom Ltd (9.4m shares), D.G. Khan Cement Ltd (8.1m shares), Maple Leaf Cement Factory Ltd (4.7m shares) and Bank Alfalah Ltd (3.6m shares).

Sectors contributing the most to the index performance were commercial banking (59.5 points), cements (32.9 points), investment banking (16.9 points), chemical (14.9 points) and power (14.4 points).

Companies registering the biggest increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Sapphire Fibres Ltd (Rs59.98), Bata Pakistan Ltd (Rs48.50), Gatron Industries Ltd (Rs32.84), Philip Morris Pakistan Ltd (Rs20.56) and Exide Pakistan Ltd (Rs12.43).

Companies that recorded the biggest declines in their share prices in absolute terms were Unilever Pakistan Food Ltd (Rs449), Khyber Textile Mills Ltd (Rs47.25), Siemens Pakistan Engineering Ltd (Rs17.04), Pakistan Services Ltd (Rs16.98) and Khyber Tobacco Company Ltd (Rs15.87).

Foreign investors were net buyers as they purchased shares worth $0.69m.

Published in Dawn, June 3rd, 2023