The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) bounced back on Friday after a string of lacklustre sessions, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index rising 0.86% (1,274 points) to close at 148,618.

The rally was driven by heavy institutional buying, particularly in cement stocks, amid optimism over higher dispatches for August 2025.

According to a market report by Topline Securities, the cement sector made the largest contribution to the day’s gains, adding 555 points to the index.

Major movers included DG Khan Cement (DGKC), Lucky Cement (LUCK), Fauji Cement (FCCL), Maple Leaf Cement (MLCF) and Cherat Cement (CHCC).

Trading activity also picked up significantly. Total traded volume surged 95% day-on-day to 1.34 billion shares, while the traded value rose 19% to Rs52.27 billion.

Among individual stocks, OGDC (Rs3.86bn), FCCL (Rs3.26bn), DGKC (Rs3.24bn), NBP (Rs2.64bn) and MLCF (Rs1.96bn) dominated turnover.

Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corp said the market’s recovery was underpinned by institutional interest and speculation ahead of the August inflation data, coupled with easing pressure over futures rollover.

“Surging foreign exchange reserves, rupee appreciation and government deliberations over resolving the circular debt issue played a catalytic role in the bullish close at PSX,” Mehanti noted.