The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday extended its bullish momentum as the benchmark KSE-100 Index surged by as much as 1,499 points (+0.89%) during the first half of the trading session, before closing higher after investors opted for profit-taking ahead of the weekend.

The index settled at 168,990 points, up 0.3% on the day.

According to a market report by Topline Securities, major support came from Fauji Fertilizer Company (FFC), United Bank Limited (UBL), Hub Power Company (HUBC), Systems Limited (SYS) and Adamjee Insurance Company Limited (AICL), which together added 980 points to the index.

However, after Thursday’s strong rally in the banking sector, some investors booked profits in key stocks.

Meezan Bank (MEBL), MCB Bank (MCB), Habib Bank (HBL) and Bank Al Habib (BAHL) collectively pulled the index down by 577 points.

In terms of traded value, HUBC led the activity at Rs10 billion, followed by Pakistan State Oil (PSO) at Rs5.4 billion, Bank of Punjab (BOP) at Rs4.53 billion, Attock Refinery Limited (ATRL) at Rs3.93 billion and FFC at Rs2.6 billion.

Overall, traded volume stood at 1.57 billion shares, while the total value of shares traded amounted to Rs78.6 billion.