KARACHI
\nPakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) extended gains on Tuesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining 437.35 points (+0.85 percent) to close at 51,920.27 points.
\nThe benchmark index breached the 52,000 points mark during the day after over six years before succumbing to profit-taking. The index crossed the 52,000 points level for the first time since May 30, 2017, said brokerage house Arif Habib Limited in a note. Experts said investors rejoiced over improved corporate profitability, and the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s decision to raise gas tariffs, which is expected to boost the profitability of the energy sector.
\nAcross-the-board buying was witnessed among the index-heavy sectors including automobile assemblers, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, refinery and technology & communication sectors trading in green.
\nThe market opened on a positive note and remained in the green territory throughout the session. The positive sentiment was fuelled by the decision of the State Bank of Pakistan to maintain the policy rate unchanged. Moreover, the market expects lower Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, which is set to be released later this week. Another optimism that kept the market bullish is a favorable International Monetary Fund (IMF) review that is scheduled to start this week.
\nThe benchmark index traded in a range of 580.13 points, showing an intraday high of 52,088.70 points and an intraday low of 51,508.57 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index gained 293.01 points (+0.85 percent) to close at 34,558.22 points, while KMI All Share Islamic Index gained 216.04 points (+0.85 percent) to close at 25,296.96 points.
\nTotal volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index increased by 114.75 million to 252.19 million shares against 137.44 million shares a session earlier. The overall market volumes increased by 168.71 million shares to 455.33 million shares against 286.62 million shares traded a session earlier.
\nAmong scrips, CNERGY topped the volumes with 71.27 million shares, followed by PRL (51.54 million) and WTL (22.6 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included CNERGY, PRL. WTL, POWER, and FFBL, which formed over 40 percent of total volumes.
\nA total of 356 companies traded shares in the stock exchange against 350 a session earlier, out of which shares of 188 closed up, shares of 146 companies closed down while shares of 22 companies remained unchanged. A total of 87 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index against 88 a session earlier, out of which share prices of 54 companies closed up, 32 closed down and one remained unchanged.
\nThe number of total trades increased to 191,173 from 143,859 a session earlier, while the value traded increased by Rs4.19 billion to Rs15.64 billion against Rs11.45 billion in the previous session.
\nIn terms of rupee, RMPL remained the top gainer with an increase of Rs170 (+2.17 percent) per share, closing at Rs8,020. The runner-up remained MEHT, the share price of which climbed up by Rs36 (+7.46 percent) to Rs518.5. SFL remained the top loser for the second consecutive session with a decrease of Rs37.33 (-3.49 percent) per share, closing at Rs1,033.67, followed by LCI, the share price of which fell by Rs11.39 (-1.8 percent) to close at Rs622.84 per share.
\nThe major sectors taking the index towards north remained commercial banks (169 points), fertilizer (90 points), power generation & distribution (82 points), refinery (56 points), and oil & gas exploration companies (38 points). The major companies adding points to the index remained ENGRO (71 points), HUBC (67 points), UBL (66 points), ILP (29 points), and MCB (25 points).
\nThe sectors taking the index towards south were technology & communication (38 points), chemical (24 points), cement (22 points), automobile assembler (17 points), and property (5 points). The major companies depriving the index of points remained TRG (64 points), MTL (19 points), EPCL (15 points), CHCC (13 points), and EFERT (12 points).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KARACHI Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) extended gains on Tuesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining 437.35 points (+0.85 percent) to close at 51,920.27 points. The benchmark index breached the 52,000 points mark during the day after over six years before succumbing to profit-taking. The index crossed the 52,000 points level for the first time since […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254263,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[205],"class_list":{"0":"post-365340","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-psx"},"yoast_head":"\n