KARACHI - Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended trading week on bullish note, with the benchmark 100-share index gaining 530 points and closing at 42,088 points.

The KSE-100 made an intra-day high of 42,156 points given improved investor sentiment across the board along with attractive valuations and sufficient liquidity available with local investors. Though the index showed some mixed activity in the first half of the trading session, the benchmark gained some positive momentum in the second half, dealers said.

Stocks closed bullish led by scrips across the board as investors weigh strong financial results in the oil and the cement sectors in the quarter-end earning seasons rally at the PSX, said analyst Ahsan Mehanti. The government levy of higher import duties will support auto stocks and subdued political noise played a catalyst role in higher close at the PSX, he added.

Contribution to the index came from commercial banks (130 points), oil & gas marketing companies (73 points), fertilizer (69 points), cement (56 points), and oil & gas exploration companies that added 42 points to the index.

Average daily volumes were up by 12.5% DoD to 261m shares. Likewise, average daily value traded jumped by 12% DoD to settle at Rs13b/USD123m. Volume leaders during the day were EPCL, ANL, TRG, ASL and DSL which cumulatively contributed 31.8% to total volumes.

Rally in the commercial banks was led by HBL that added 39 points while MCB, SNGP, HUBC, and PPL contributed 36 points, 34 points, 33 points and 27 points, respectively. On the other hand, scrips that posted a negative contribution remained POL that shed 11 points, NESTLE that eroded 7 points, NBP that shed 5 points, PSMC that took away 5 points and AICL that shed 4 points, stated AHL report. Scrips of total 386 active companies traded in the session of which 270 closed in green, 99 in red while 17 remained unchanged.