KARACHI: The stock market maintained its bullish drive on Friday for the second straight session on continued value-hunting in energy and cement scrips, propelling the benchmark KSE 100 index above the 114,000 barrier.

Topline Securities Ltd said oil and cement companies led the rally on news that the government had reached a deal with commercial banks to borrow Rs1.25tr at less than 11pcinterest rate to settle the circular debt.

The cement companies garnered investor interest due to declining coal prices.

The top positive contribution to the index came from PSO, FCC, Hub Power, Pakistan Petroleum, Pioneer Cement, Lucky Cement, and Cherat Cement, cumulatively adding 513 points.

Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said the market sustained uppishly inclined senti-ments as investors anticipated another cut in the SBP policy rate next week.

He added that the government deliberation over the privatisation of stateowned enterprises and expectations about the resolution of power sectorcircular debt ahead of the release of the second tranche next month after the completion of the IMF review boosted investor sentiments.

Ali Najib, Head of Sales at Insight Securities, said the PSX continued itsbullish momentum as the index closed at 114,398.69 after adding 686 points or 0.60pc day-on-day.

He noted that investors continued strengthening their position in energy stocks following an overnight meeting betweenthe government and banks to resolve the circular debt of Rs1.3tr.

The market activity remained strong as the trading volume rose 8.38pc to 404.36 million shares while the traded value increased 6.06pc toRs27.84bn day-on-day.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Fauji Cement (57.21m shares), Sui Southern Gas (23.75m shares), Maple Leaf Cement (22.46mshares),WorldCall Telecom (21.45m shares) and At-Tahur Ltd (14.56m shares).

The shares registering the most significant increasesintheirsharepricesin absolute terms were Unilever Foods (Rs151.15), Ismail Industries (Rs83.25), Lucky Core Ind (Rs79.99), PIA Holding Company [B] (Rs70.79) and Nestle Pakistan (Rs33.58).

The companies registering significant decreases in their share prices in absolute terms were JDW Sugar Mills (Rs38.84), Service Industries (Rs34.70), Atlas Honda (Rs15.97), Sapphire Textile (Rs12.06) and Packages Ltd (Rs11.16).

Mutual funds and companies turned net buyers by purchasing shares worth $2.86m and $3.30m, respectively.