BRIndex100 advances

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) Wednesday showed some recovery led by cement, banking and auto sector scrips. BRIndex100 gained 22.26 points or 0.46 percent to 4,906.26 points compared to 4,884.00 points Tuesday. BRIndex100 touched intraday high of 4,910.31 and intraday low of 4,874.03 points. Volume stood at 213.152 million shares. TRG Pak. was the most traded company in BRIndex100 with a trading volume of 23 million shares.
BRIndex30 opened at 24,910.19 points. It touched intraday high of 25,080.63 points and intraday low of 24,910.19 points. It closed at 25,068.46 points which was 158.27 points or 0.64 percent higher than previous close. Volume at BRIndex30 stood at 147.817 million shares. The benchmark KSE-100 index gained 169 points to reach 45,173 points Wednesday compared to 45,004 points Tuesday. Volumes improved further from 235.5 million shares to 248 million shares, up 5 percent. The market capitalization surged by Rs 39.344 billion to Rs 9.284 trillion.
Analysts said the bourse started the day on a positive note and a healthy activity was observed at the beginning of the session, however, the ensuing selling pressure in blue chips caused bulls to push back and the market started settling down. The market fell by 105 points but picked up and closed in positive zone.
Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corp commenting on the market said stocks showed recovery led by auto, banking and cement scrips amid speculations ahead of SBP policy rate announcements on March 30th. "Current account deficit data for Jul-February of FY18 and concerns for rising budget deficit invited mid-session pressure," he added.
Higher global crude oil prices, rising local auto prices, upbeat cement sales data for February 2018 and surging textile exports played a catalytic role in higher close at PSX, he said.
TRG Pak remained volume leader with 22.98 million shares. It gained Re 1.91 to close at Rs 40.21 followed by KE that increased by Re 0.18 to close at Rs 6.75 with 22.16 million shares. Pak Electron was the third highest trading share with 17.5 million scrips. It closed at Rs 47.56, up Rs 1.71. Rafhan Maize and Unilever Foods were the top gainers with Rs 383.00 and Rs 150.00 to close at Rs 8,058.00 and Rs 9,700.00, respectively.
Island Textile and Shezan Inter were the top losers with Rs 40.00 and Rs 21.82 to Rs 900 and Rs 527.18, respectively. BR Commercial Banks Index closed at 9,347.21 with a net positive change of 34.38 points or a percentage change of 0.37 and a total turnover of 23,637,800. BR Cement Index closed at 6,122.28 with a net positive change of 85.17 points or a percentage change of 1.41 and a total turnover of 26,113,750.
BR Oil and Gas Index closed at 5,356.65 with a net negative change of -0.48 points or a percentage change of -0.01 and a total turnover of 3,949,950. BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 1,273.77 with a net positive change of 23 points or a percentage change of 1.84 and a total turnover of 29,334,500.
BR Power Generation and Distribution Index closed at 6,675.68 with a net positive change of 51.01 points or a percentage change of 0.77 and a total turnover of 24,334,000. According to analysts at Topline, cement sector garnered investor interest amid strong demand in cement dispatches, and expected hike of Rs 10/bag on Cement bag prices. Consequently, cement sector added 67 points to index in today's trading session. This led the benchmark index to close at 45,173, gaining 169 points.
Sazgar Engineering (SAZEW) closed at its upper limit, as Ministry of Industries and Production Pakistan has awarded the "Category A Greenfield Investment Status" to company for assembly of passenger and off-road vehicles. TRG Pak Limited (TRG) remained volume leader today and closed at upper lock as company is going for Initial Public offering (IPO) of its indirect subsidiary IBEX, they added.
According to Arif Habib Limited, DGKC and LUCK showed healthy activity at the end of session. Sectors that performed well today were Cement, Fertilizer, Autos and mid cap Banks. Sectors contributing to this increase include Cement (+67pts), Fertilizer (+31pts), Technology (+18pts) & Commercial Banks (+15pts). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included TRG, KEL, PAEL, FCCL and LOTCHEM reflecting 35 percent of total volumes.