KARACHI
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) maintained its bullish momentum and extended gains for the seventh straight session to breach the 48,000 points level.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 418.48 points (+0.88 percent) to close at 48,140.27 points. The market opened on a slight negative note but turned towards north within minutes and then remained in green territory throughout the session. Overall, the benchmark index has gained 1,967.48 points in the last seven sessions.
The rupee’s consistent appreciation over the past few weeks has given investors a sense of confidence. Moreover, 10 percent duty on Afghanistan transit trade is going to discourage any kind of smuggling which used to take place through Afghan transit and the step will further empower local industry.
The benchmark index traded in a range of 458.25 points, showing an intraday high of 48,166.36 points and an intraday low of 47,708.11 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index gained 242.57 points (+0.75 percent) to close at 32,133.14 points, while KMI All Share Islamic Index gained 178.44 points (+0.76 percent) to close at 23,397.56 points.
Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index increased by 53.02 million to 169.37 million shares against 116.35 million shares traded a session earlier. The overall market volumes increased by 116.41 million shares to 350.07 million shares against 233.66 million shares traded a session earlier.
Among scrips, KEL topped the volumes with 33.9 million shares, followed by PRL (26.34 million) and WTL (21.45 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included KEL, PRL, WTL, PAEL, and DFML, which formed over 32 percent of total volumes.
A total of 345 companies traded shares in the stock exchange against 332 a session earlier, out of which shares of 227 closed up, shares of 94 closed down while shares of 24 companies remained unchanged. A total of 95 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index against 93 in the previous session, out of which share price of 69 companies closed up, 20 closed down and six remained unchanged.
The number of total trades increased by 40,830 to 154,235 from 113,405 a session earlier, while the value traded increased by Rs3.68 billion to Rs10.76 billion against Rs7.08 billion in the previous session.
In terms of rupee, UPFL remained the top gainer with an increase of Rs550 (+2.66 percent) per share, closing at Rs21,250. The runner-up remained SFL, the share price of which climbed up by Rs69.99 (+6.51 percent) to Rs1,144.99. NESTLE remained the top loser with a decrease of Rs100 (-1.41 percent) per share, closing at Rs7,000, followed by TICL, the share price of which fell by Rs10.9 (-4.58 percent) to close at Rs227.09 per share.
The major sectors taking the index towards north remained commercial banks (134 points), fertilizer (64 points), refinery (40 points), cement (34 points), and power generation & distribution (26 points). The major companies adding points to the index remained MEBL (46 points), FFC (33 points), UBL (26 points), ATRL (25 points), and BAHL (23 points).
The sectors taking the index towards south were automobile assembler (11 points), chemical and miscellaneous (4 points each), and glass & ceramics and insurance (1 point each). The major companies depriving the index of points remained NESTLE (13 points), MTL (11 points), and COLG, GHGL and SCBPL (6 points each).
