KARACHI: A positive trend continued on Pakistan Stock Exchange Wednesday on the back of local investors’ and institutional support. BRIndex100 gained another 64.09 points or 1.5 percent to close at 4,334.31 points. BRIndex100 hit intraday high of 4,347.61 and intraday low of 4,270.68 points. Volumes stood at 619.678 million shares.

BRIndex30 increased by 262.88 points or 1.2 percent to close at 22,101.96 points with a turnover of 371.931 million shares.

The KSE-100 Index surged by 579.34 points or 1.41 percent and crossed 41,000 psychological level reaching 41,535.92 points. Trading activity also improved as daily volumes on the ready counter increased to 661.276 million shares as compared to 492.674 million shares traded Tuesday.

Foreign investors however remained net sellers of shares worth $2.471 million. The market capitalization increased by Rs 95 billion to Rs 7.689 trillion. Out of total 424 active scrips, 286 closed in positive and 122 in negative while the value of 16 stocks remained unchanged. Unity Foods was the volume leader with 64.481 million shares and increased by Rs 1.46 to close at Rs 21.00 followed by Pak Int. Bulk Terminal that gained Rs 0.72 to close at Rs 13.96 with 64.00 million shares. Philip Morris Pak and Bata Pak were the top gainers increasing by Rs 84.90 and Rs 61.13 respectively to close at Rs 1684.90 and Rs 1661.13 while Sanofi-Aventis and Gatron Industries were the top losers declining by Rs 40.90 and Rs 39.00 respectively to close at Rs 779.00 and Rs 660.00.

BR Automobile Assembler Index increased by 148.81 points or 1.91 percent to close at 7,955.82 points with total turnover of 9.892 million shares.

BR Cement Index gained 12.73 points or 0.22 percent to close at 5,847.11 points with 46.395 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index surged by 165.26 points or 1.96 percent to close at 8,586.52 points with 56.357 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index inched up by 57.08 points or 1.16 percent to close at 4,964.79 points with 19.732 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index closed at 3,931.87 points, up 8.4 points or 0.21 percent with 55.761 million shares.

BR Tech. & Comm. Index increased by 89.14 points or 5.12 percent to close at 1,828.87 points with 48.672 million shares.

Danish Ladhani at JS Global Capital said that the KSE-100 Index gained 579 points after making a high of plus 656 points to close at 41,536 levels. The market remained bullish with high volumes amidst result season. Moreover, political uncertainty still prevails amidst ongoing PDM march.

Investors should keep an eye on the FATF meeting as well. Major gainers were BAHL (up 7.5 percent), ENGRO (up 2.1 percent), EFERT (up 4.9 percent), HUBC (up 1.9 percent), FFC (up 1.3 percent) and MEBL (up 2.4 percent) contributed to the positive index close.

MEBL approves "Meezan Bank Employees Share Option Scheme" for its employees. BAFL (up 1.9 percent) in the financials reported its consolidated nine months of CY20 EPS of Rs 4.87 against EPS of Rs 5.35 in the same period last year with a cash payout of Rs2/share. ABL (up 0.6 percent) in the financials reported its consolidated nine months of CY20 EPS of Rs 11.03 against EPS of Rs 8.42 in the same period last year with no pay-out. Moreover, BAHL (up 7.5 percent) closed in the upper circuit as the bank announced consolidated third quarter of FY20 EPS of Rs 5.39 against loss of Rs 2.30/share in the same period last year with no cash pay-out. Furthermore, ASL (up 2.3 percent) in the Steels reported its first quarter of FY21 EPS of Rs 0.82 against LPS of Rs 0.29 in the same period last year with no pay-out. ACPL (down 3.9 percent) in the Cements reported its consolidated first quarter of FY21 LPS of Rs 3.37 against EPS of Rs 2.88 in the same period last year. EFERT (up 4.9 percent) in the fertilizers announced consolidated third quarter last year FY20 EPS of Rs 5.27 against EPS of Rs 2.49 in the same period last year with Rs 5.0 dividend per share.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020