After witnessing a bloodbath session, the Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Index registered an increase of 0.35%, but still finished below the 44,000 level on Friday.

On Thursday, the benchmark KSE-100 had plummeted over 1,300 points (2.9%), as investors resorted to panic selling after Russia announced a 'special military operation' in Ukraine.

The index fell below the 44,000 level, but bounced back on Friday before profit-booking towards the end led to a marginal gain.

On Friday, the benchmark index gained 365.48 points to record an intra-day high of 44,195.99. However, by close, the KSE-100 Index ended higher by 153.73 points or 0.35% at 43,984.24.

“From a vantage-point of the equity market, we expect recent political events, both on international and domestic front, to take a toll on investor-sentiment where the KSE-100 has already corrected 2.1% in the past 10 days,” said AKD Securities in a note.

The brokerage house said that Pakistan's macro fundamentals are still fragile (though return to IMF programme does provide some comfort) and developments exposes the country to more risks particularly on the external side.

“We advise investors to maintain status quo on their positions but keep a close eye on domestic political developments, where any negative outcome for the government would significantly fracture valuations,” it added.

On the economic front, Pakistan’s current account deficit (CAD) during the month of January 2022 clocked in at $2.6 billion, as opposed to $1.9 billion recorded during last month, revealed the latest numbers released by State Bank of Pakistan. This took the cumulative number during 7MFY22 to $11.6 billion.

On the corporate front, Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) posted a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs14,719 million, with an EPS of Rs5.41 during 2QFY22, in contrast to Rs11,886 million alongside an EPS of Rs4.37 in 2QFY21, up by 24% YoY.

Sectors painting the benchmark index green included fertiliser (58.47 points), banking (30.62 points) and oil and gas marketing (20.84 points).

Volume on the all-share index decreased to 241.64 million from 350.06 million on Thursday. The value of shares traded declined to Rs6.74 billion from Rs8.75 billion recorded in the previous session.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 33.25 million shares, followed by Flying Cement (R) with 15.4 million shares, and Telecard Limited with 11.1 million shares.

Shares of 356 companies were traded on Friday, of which 200 registered an increase, 130 recorded a fall, and 26 remained unchanged.

This story was first published on Business Recorder on February 25, 2022.