KARACHI: Fresh buying, mainly in E&P, banking, textile and fertilizer sectors Wednesday supported the Pakistan Stock Exchange to close on a positive note with healthy gains. BRIndex100 gained 59.69 points or 1.45 percent to close at 4,186.39 points. BRIndex100 hit intraday high of 4,192.13 and intraday low of 4,126.70 points. Volumes stood at 195.484 million shares.

BRIndex30 increased by 358.18 points or 1.73 percent to close at 21,026.25 points with a turnover of 142.999 million shares.

The KSE-100 Index surged by 514.18 points or 1.29 percent and closed above 40,000 level at 40,377.54 points. Trading activity also improved as daily volumes on ready counter increased to 241.946 million shares as compared to 174.718 million shares traded Tuesday.

Foreign investors however remained net sellers of shares worth $2.421 million. Total market capitalization increased by Rs 103 billion to Rs 7.447 trillion. Out of total 378 active scrips, 227 closed in positive and 134 in negative while the value of 17 stocks remained unchanged.

Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim (R ) was the volume leader with 28.573 million shares however lost Rs 0.89 to close at Rs 5.43 followed by TRG Pak that increased by Rs 3.20 to close at Rs 55.18 with 21.158 million shares. Colgate Palmolive and Mari Petroleum were the top gainers increasing by Rs 50.00 and Rs 47.03 respectively to close at Rs 2850.00 and Rs 1353.17 while Rafhan Maize and Wyeth Pak were the top losers declining by Rs 89.00 and Rs 12.56 respectively to close at Rs 8311.00 and Rs 998.02.

BR Automobile Assembler Index gained 29.89 points or 0.39 percent to close at 7,645.96 points with total turnover of 2.913 million shares. BR Cement Index decreased by 54.89 points or 0.96 percent to close at 5,663.36 points with 18.468 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index increased by 85.63 points or 1.02 percent to close at 8,449.06 points with 12.165 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index lost 16.77 points or 0.35 percent to close at 4,787.99 points with 11.172 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index surged by 179.28 points or 4.92 percent to close at 3,824.10 points with 33.707 million shares. BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 1,969.13 points, up 100.43 points or 5.37 percent with 44.999 million shares. An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that E&P stocks drove the market, contributing heavily to the 568 points surge in the index. The KSE-100 Index closed up 514 points, with OGDC and PPL hitting upper circuit at close. Crude oil prices increased significantly overnight and maintained the momentum during the session as well, which particularly helped those investors concerned with decline in cement dispatches to switch to better alternative.

Banks, Textile and Fertilizer sector also contributed to the positivity. Cement sector continued the downturn and traded below respective LDCPs the entire session.

Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (up 280 points), Banks (up 93 points), Technology (up 78 points), O&GMCs (up 31 points) and Fertilizer (up 25 points).

Stocks that contributed positively to the index include PPL (up 93 points), OGDC (up 90 points), POL (up 68 points), SYS (up 41 points) and TRG (up 34 points). Stocks that contributed negatively included HUBC (down 23 points), LUCK (down 17 points), FCCL (down 9 points), EFERT (down 8 points) and ABOT (down 6 points).

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020