Market watch
\nBenchmark index rises 73.20 points to settle at 35,051.38
\nnews desk
\nKARACHI
\nBulls continued to rule the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Friday as the benchmark index gradually marched upwards and gained over 70 points following rupee\u2019s significant recovery against the dollar.
\nFurthermore, stability in international crude oil prices and recovery in global markets strengthened investors\u2019 sentiment.
\nThe KSE-100 index started rising from the moment trading began and managed to power past the 35,000-point mark. The market\u2019s advance marked the sixth successive session in the green despite growing political and economic uncertainty.
\nSome gains were erased after midday, nevertheless, strong investors\u2019 interest helped the index close with modest gains.
\nAt close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 73.20 points, or 0.21%, to settle at 35,051.38 points.
\nArif Habib Limited, in its report, stated that the market traded in a narrow range of between -60 points and +127 points, closing the session up by 73 points.
\nThe pharmaceutical sector stood tall with Searl and Ferozsons Laboratories trading at and near their upper circuits. The engineering (steel) sector also recorded price gains, barring Mughal Iron and Steel, which went down.
\nMeanwhile, the banking sector showed a mixed trend, but buying activity was witnessed in HBL, UBL and Bank Alfalah.
\nAmong fertiliser stocks, Engro Fertilisers recorded a high volume with price gains. Cement, exploration and production and oil marketing companies, on the other hand, endured profit-booking and closed in the red, the report added.
\nThe technology sector topped the volumes with trading in 51.7 million shares, followed by investment banks (14.8 million) and cement companies (13.8 million).
\nStocks that contributed positively to the index included Fauji Fertiliser Company (+24 points), Searl (+23 points), TRG Pakistan (+21 points), UBL (+21 points) and Bank Alfalah (+15 points).
\nStocks that contributed negatively were Lucky Cement (-16 points), Hubco (-12 points), OGDC (-9 points), MCB (-8 points) and PSO (-7 points).
\nJS Global analyst Maaz Mulla said the market remained range bound, touching intra-day high and low of +127 and -60 points respectively. It finally closed at 35,051, up 0.2%.
\nTraded volumes were down by 54% to 176 million shares while traded value decreased by 46% to $40 million.
\nProfit-booking was witnessed in the cement sector where Lucky Cement (-1.1%), Cherat Cement (-1.1%), DG Khan Cement (-0.5%), Pioneer Cement (-1%) and Maple Leaf Cement (-1.6%) lost ground, he stated.
\nThe pharmaceutical sector continued its upward trend where Ferozsons Laboratories (+6.9%), Searl (+5.3%), GlaxoSmithKline (+2.7%) and AGP Limited (+1.9%) were the major movers.
\nUBL (+1.8%) and HBL (+0.8%) from the banking sector were in the green zone while on the flipside MCB (-0.6%) and NBP (-1.5%) remained in the red.
\n\u201cGoing forward, we recommend investors to book profit on strength,\u201d the analyst said.
\nOverall, trading volumes fell to 175.8 million shares compared with Thursday\u2019s tally of 383.1 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs6.7 billion.
\nShares of 346 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 155 stocks closed higher, 172 declined and 19 remained unchanged.
\nTRG Pakistan was the volume leader with 23.3 million shares, gaining Rs2.08 to close at Rs33.24. It was followed by Jahangir Siddiqui and Company with 12.7 million shares, losing Rs0.01 to close at Rs13.08 and Hum Network with 9.1 million shares, losing Rs0.47 to close at Rs13.84.
\nForeign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs227.3 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Market watch Benchmark index rises 73.20 points to settle at 35,051.38 news desk KARACHI Bulls continued to rule the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Friday as the benchmark index gradually marched upwards and gained over 70 points following rupee\u2019s significant recovery against the dollar. Furthermore, stability in international crude oil prices and recovery in global markets […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":130196,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\n