The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended lower on Friday as investors booked profits ahead of the weekend, erasing earlier gains from a strong start to the session.

The benchmark KSE-100 index touched an intraday high of 1,166 points, up 0.8%, but later retreated to close at 145,382 points, down 0.18%.

According to Topline Securities’ market report, top positive contributions came from Engro Fertilizers (ENGROH), Fauji Fertilizer Company (FFC), Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) and MCB Bank, which collectively added 395 points to the index.

In contrast, declines in Engro Fertilizer (EFERT), Lucky Cement (LUCK), Systems Limited (SYS), Mari Petroleum (MARI) and Hub Power Company (HUBC) shaved off 399 points.

By traded value, OGDC (Rs5.44 billion), FFC (Rs4.68 billion), Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) (Rs4.19 billion) and Pakistan State Oil (PSO) (Rs3.57 billion) led the market.

Total traded volume for the day stood at 545 million shares, with a traded value of Rs45 billion. Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corp said stocks closed under pressure as profit-taking hit overbought scrips.

“Concerns remained over the $2.8 billion trade deficit for July 2025, which widened by 44% year-on-year,” he noted.

“Foreign outflows, provincial tax collection shortfalls, missed cash surplus targets under IMF conditions, and political noise also played a catalytic role in the bearish close at PSX.”