KARACHI -  The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended week in green zone, with the benchmark KSE 100-index gaining a modest 31 points to close at 40,844 points.

The market remained range-bound and investors were seen taking positions in small cap stocks. Oil & gas sector scrips remained in the limelight. Anticipation of increased use of LNG and asset accretion to SSGC and SNGP kept investors’ interest in O& GMCs, according to AHL market data report.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the index included PPL that added 30 points, OGDC 21 points, PAKT 17 points, TRG 17 points and EFERT which added 12 points to the index gain respectively. Negative contributions came from PSO that shed 34 points, COLG that eroded 12 points, DAWH that detracted 10 points, BAHL that shed 9 points and NRL that took away 9 points from the index.

Higher global crude prices, upbeat financial results in selected oil, banking and auto scrips played a catalyst role in higher close at PSX despite mid-session pressure on MSCI downgrades, foreign outflow and surging traded deficit data for Jul-Oct 17, stated analyst Ahsan Mehanti. Market volumes increased by 20% DoD from 96.7m to 115.6m. Correspondingly, average traded value also increased by 9.5% DoD from USD 47.6m to USD 52.1m.

Scrips that ruled the day in terms of volume included TRG with 15.9m shares traded, ANL with 12.6m shares, WTL with 9.9m traded shares, SSGC with 7.9m traded shares and SNGP with 6.6m shares traded contributed 46% to the index. Scrips of total 349 active companies traded in the session of which 178 closed in advance, 149 in decline while 22 remained unchanged.