Benchmark KSE-100 Index gains 35.12 points to settle at 45,916.25 points
KARACHI
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed another volatile session amid profit-taking activity, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining 35.12 points (+0.08 percent) to close at 45,916.25 points.
The market opened on a bullish note and crossed the level of 46,000 points mark within minutes. However, the market failed to maintain this level during the last half an hour trading when excessive selling brought the index below this psychological level. Trading of over half a billion volumes during the session buoyed the investors.
The KSE-100 Index moved in a range of 347.92 points, showing an intraday low of 45,872.48 points and a high of 46,220.40 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index gained 44.38 points (+0.14 percent) to close at 31,388.59 points, while KMI All Share Islamic Index gained 86.81 points (+0.39 percent) to close at 22,541.65 points.
A total of 387 companies traded shares in the stock exchange, out of them shares of 177 closed up, shares of 179 closed down while shares of 31 companies remained unchanged. Out of 96 traded companies in the KSE-100 Index, 47 closed up, 44 closed down and five remained unchanged.
The overall market volumes increased by 175.28 million to 514.38 million shares. Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index increased by 23.03 million to 125.31 million shares. The number of total trades increased by 18,837 to 147,826, while the value traded increased by Rs0.86 billion to Rs10.60 billion. Overall market capitalisation increased by Rs11.12 billion.
Among scrips, WTL topped the volumes with 133.91 million shares, followed by UNITYR3 (39.15 million) and HASCOL (23.44 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included WTL, UNITYR3, HASCOL, CNERGY, and TELE, which formed over 46 percent of total volumes.
The sectors taking the index towards north were oil & gas exploration companies with 53 points, fertilizer with 21 points, textile composite with 11 points, power generation & distribution with 10 points, and investment banks/ investment companies/ securities companies with 5 points. The most points added to the index were by OGDC which contributed 18 points followed by PPL (13 points), FFC (12 points), MARI (11 points) and POL (11 points).
The sectors taking the index towards south were technology & communication with 31 points, cement (20 points), food & personal care products (9 points), and engineering and commercial banks (6 points each). The most points taken off the index were by TRG which stripped the index of 31 points followed by MCB (16 points), LUCK (13 points), HBL (10 points) and NESTLE (10 points).
In terms of rupee, UPFL witnessed a maximum increase of Rs649 per share, closing at Rs20,149 whereas the runner-up was SFL, the share price of which climbed up by Rs52.27 to Rs903.29. NESTLE witnessed a maximum decrease of Rs179.94 per share, closing at Rs5,510.06, followed by RMPL, the share price of which declined by Rs50 to close at Rs9,850 per share.
According to experts, rising coal prices are hitting the cement sector. They said that volumes returned but only one stock (WTL) secured around one-fourth of the whole volumes. They said that the market needs fresh triggers to close above the 46,000 points level, as this level was crossed a day earlier too but profit-taking brought the index down.
