KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw roller-coaster trading session and KSE-100 Index closed flat after volatile ride. KSE-100 started session positive, hitting an intra-day high of 79,173.94.

However, bears dominated market in second half and pushed index back to below 79,000. At close, benchmark index settled at 78,801.43, marginally up by 8.01 points or 0.01 percent. Sectors that contributed positively included pharma, chemical, banking, OMCs and textile. Meanwhile, cement, auto, E&P, power and tech sectors closed in red. Volume on all-share index decreased to 682.41 million from 804.26 million. However, value of shares increased to Rs 18.17 billion from Rs 16.97 billion in previous session. Kohinoor Spinning was volume leader with 81.71 million shares, followed by K-Electric Ltd with 71.85 million shares and Pace (Pak) Ltd with 36.74 million shares. Shares of 451 companies were traded on Friday, of which 192 registered an increase, 199 recorded fall while 60 remained unchanged. Topline Securities said KSE 100 largely traded in positive zone on Friday. "However, some profit taking was observed in closing hours of trade, as index declined to close on flat note," it said.

Globally, European stock markets rose at open on Friday ahead of highly-anticipated speech by US Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell. London's FTSE 100 gained 0.3 percent to 8,314.62 points, while Paris CAC 40 added almost 0.4 points to 7,550.16 and Frankfurt's DAX advanced by 0.3 percent to 18,548.79. China stocks also gained after three straight sessions of losses, while Hong Kong shares fell in conjunction with regional peers amid caution ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech. Indian shares were little changed on Friday, tracking pause in global equities' rally ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's address, as investors awaited confirmation of their expectations for US rate cut next month.