KSE-100 Index advances: BRIndex100 edges up

After moving both ways, Pakistan Stock Exchange Tuesday ended on a positive note on the back of local investors' and institutional support.

BRIndex100 gained 24.86 points or 0.78 percent to close at 3,209.07 points. BRIndex100 touched intraday high of 3,229.95 and intraday low of 3,175.18 points. Volumes stood at 118.019 million shares.

BRIndex30 inched up by 38.38 points or 0.24 percent to close at 16,109.18 points with a turnover of 88.296 million shares.

The KSE-100 Index increased by 189.75 points or 0.61 percent to close at 31,222.74 points. Trading activity however remained thin as daily volumes on ready counter decreased to 130.415 million shares as compared to 153.875 million shares traded Monday.

Foreign investors remained net sellers of equities worth $1.033 million. The market capitalization increased by Rs 24 billion to Rs 5.922 trillion. Out of total 327 active scrips, 209 closed in positive and only 95 in negative while the value of 23 stocks remained unchanged.

Maple Leaf was the volume leader with 11.406 million shares and gained Rs 0.74 to close at Rs 23.05 followed by Hascol Petroleum that lost Rs 0.09 to close at Rs 14.76 with 10.727 million shares. Millat Tractors and Sapphire Fiber were the top gainers increasing by Rs 39.08 and Rs 37.64 respectively to close at Rs 644.16 and Rs 718.64 while Nestle Pakistan and Service Ind. Limited were the top losers declining by Rs 353.50 and Rs 20.45 respectively to close at Rs 5810.00 and Rs 700.00.

BR Automobile Assembler Index increased by 119.65 points or 2.64 percent to close at 4,652.45 points with total turnover of 722,160 shares.

BR Cement Index inched gained 88.12 points or 2.46 percent to close at 3,663.17 points with 37.551 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index inched up by 42.1 points or 0.61 percent to close at 6,952.79 points with 6.724 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index lost 39.88 points or 0.95 percent to close at 4,148.14 points with 11.747 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index fell by 1.19 points or 0.04 percent to close at 3,139.86 points with 18.455 million shares.

BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 776.02 points, up 1.56 points or 0.2 percent with 9.724 million shares.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the market traded in the positive zone for most part of the session, despite international crude oil prices dipping below the pre-production cut levels. WTI saw declines of 2.5 percent in international markets, which caused local investors to book profit on E&P and O&GMCs.

Similar activity was observed in cement sector that saw MLCF and DGKC touching levels near lower circuits, but rebounded strongly by the closing of session. Textile sector also benefited from positive investor sentiment.

Major reason behind the positivity was government's consideration on following smart lockdown/partial opening up of businesses across the country that raised hopes among investors for return to normalcy. Banking sector stocks largely stood ground with HBL, MCB and UBL trading range bound amidst low volumes. Cement sector posted trading volumes of 37.5 million shares, followed by O&GMCs (14.7 million shares) and Power (11.7 million shares).

Sectors contributing to the performance include Cement (up 61 points), Banks (up 47 points), Textile (up 41 points), Pharma (up 32 points), Auto (up 22 points), Food (down 36 points) and Power (down 21 points). Stocks that contributed positively to the index include LUCK (up 23 points), MTL (up 19 points), NML (up 16 points), NBP (up 13 points) and SEARL (up 12 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include NESTLE (down 35 points), HUBC (down 22 points), HMB (down 6 points), OGDC (down 6 points) and SNGP (down 6 points).