KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange Wednesday moved both ways, however closed on a positive note due to select buying at the fag end. BRIndex100 inched up 5.43 points or 0.13 percent to close at 4,282.48 points. BRIndex100 hit intraday high of 4,298.83 and intraday low of 4,248.10 points. Volumes stood at 230.551 million shares.

BRIndex30 increased by 124.72 points or 0.57 percent to close at 21,843.24 points with a turnover of 129.535 million shares.

The KSE-100 Index gained 44.27 points or 0.11 percent and closed at 41,197.32 points. Trading activity remained thin as daily volumes on ready counter decreased to 244.284 million shares as compared to 355.986 million shares traded Tuesday.

Foreign investors however remained net sellers of shares worth $2.081 million. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 4 billion to Rs 7.574 trillion. Out of total 401 active scrips, 247 closed in negative and 133 in positive while the value of 21 stocks remained unchanged.

BankIslami Pak was the volume leader with 31.519 million shares and gained Rs 0.79 to close at Rs 10.74 followed by TRG Pak that increased by Rs 1.55 to close at Rs 55.94 with 25.041 million shares. Island Textile and Sapphire Textile were the top gainers increasing by Rs 92.64 and Rs 77.58 respectively to close at Rs 1327.94 and Rs 1131.00 while Rafhan Maize and Philip Morris Pak were the top losers declining by Rs 170.00 and Rs 88.64 respectively to close at Rs 8355.00 and Rs 1451.36.

BR Automobile Assembler Index lost 32.39 points or 0.41 percent to close at 7,895.08 points with total turnover of 1.343 million shares.

BR Cement Index declined by 87.68 points or 1.45 percent to close at 5,976.25 points with 30.133 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index inched up by 33.13 points or 0.39 percent to close at 8,505.39 points with 42.628 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index decreased by 20.94 points or 0.42 percent to close at 4,946.39 points with 19.745 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index increased by 70.86 points or 1.85 percent to close at 3,896.38 points with 20.344 million shares.

BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 1,907.95 points, up 25.17 points or 1.34 percent with 32.001 million shares.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said that the stocks closed higher led by oil, banking and fertilizer scrips on strong valuations.

He said higher global equities, surge in global crude oil prices, 20 percent surge in banking deposits in October 2020 and strong rupee recovery played a catalytic role in bullish close.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020