KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange Wednesday witnessed a positive trend and closed in green zone with healthy gains due to fresh buying, mainly by local investors and institutions. BRIndex100 gained 23.42 points or 0.46 percent to close at 5,114.76 points. BRIndex100 hit intraday high of 5,158.31 points and intraday low of 5,107.98 points. Volumes stood at 328.862 million shares.

BRIndex30 increased by 313.74 points or 1.24 percent to close at 25,618.00 points with a turnover of 193.357 million shares.

The KSE-100 Index surged by 241.90 points or 0.51 percent to close at 47,377.38 points. Trading activity also improved as daily volumes on ready counter increased to 382.644 million shares as compared to 370.038 million shares traded Tuesday.

Foreign investors however remained net sellers of shares worth $310,152. Total market capitalization increased by Rs 19 billion to Rs 8.298 trillion. Out of total 472 active scrips, 223 closed in negative and 222 in positive while the value of 27 stocks remained unchanged.

Ghani Glo Hol was the volume leader with 27.600 million shares and gained Rs 0.97 to close at Rs 43.43 followed by WorldCall Telecom that closed at Rs 3.43, down Rs 0.02 with 26.706 million shares. Indus Motor Co and Sapphire Fiber were the top gainers increasing by Rs 69.36 and Rs 58.79 respectively to close at Rs 1334.45 and Rs 934.99 while Philip Morris Pak and Nestle Pakistan were the top losers declining by Rs 34.98 and Rs 20.00 respectively to close at Rs 930.00 and Rs 5850.00.

BR Automobile Assembler Index increased by 83.49 points or 0.85 percent to close at 9,859.53 points with total turnover of 3.950 million shares.

BR Cement Index gained 18.82 points or 0.27 percent to close at 7,112.03 points with 7.586 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index lost 5.61 points or 0.06 percent to close at 9,399.16 points with 17.312 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index added 46.67 points or 0.86 percent to close at 5,500.05 points with 10.761 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index inched up by 12.1 points or 0.31 percent to close at 3,960.69 points with 15.303 million shares.

BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 4,626.56 points, up 113.03 points or 2.5 percent with 94.726 million shares.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the market gained close to 500 points during the session and closed plus 241.90 points.

Sentiment was buoyant on the expectation of healthy earnings by key listed entities which helped propped up the market. Besides, incentives issued in favour of Technology firms and Finance Minister’s notice regarding inquiry against stock brokers also helped develop positive sentiment.

Banks, O&GMCs, Cement, Power and Technology stocks performed well. Refinery sector also performed well due to anticipation of refinery policy being finally put to approval of Cabinet.

Sectors contributing to the performance include Technology (up 99 points), Power (up 26 points), Fertilizer (up 24 points), Autos (up 17 points) and Pharma (up 15 points).

Stocks that contributed positively to the index include TRG (up 77 points), HUBC (up 27 points), ENGRO (up 26 points), SYS (up 24 points) and INDU (up 22 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include BAHL (down 15 points), MCB (down 9 points), EFERT (down 6 points), CHCC (down 5 points) and FABL (down 5 points).

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021