Equities showed recovery Tuesday on the back of what analysts said strong valuations of select scrips. Amid "result-driven" higher trades, the benchmark KSE-100 index gained 163 points to close at 33,848 compared to 33,685 of the previous session. The volatile day saw the index crossing the 34,000 mark in the intraday trade. "Stocks showed recovery amid higher trades led by select scrips across the board on strong valuations," said Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corp.
The analyst said investors bet on rising crude prices and strong results in the cement sector. "Speculations on the quarter-end earning announcements at PSX played a catalytic role in the bullish close," said Mehanti. Trading turnover at the ready-counter was recorded swelling beyond 258 million shares worth Rs 11.96 billion. Of the total 367 issues traded, 185 posted gains, 160 lost their worth and that of 22 stayed unchanged.
"Result-driven activity was seen at the local bourse today," viewed analysts at Topline Research. The volumes, they said, increased by 50 percent and the value 86 percent.
With market capital accumulating to Rs 7.01 trillion, the foreign portfolio investment marked $4.29 million outflows. SNGPL emerged the volume leader with 26 million shares. The gas utility rose to Rs 33.28 at close. Other best performing stocks included Dewan Motors, WorldCall Telecom, K-Electric, TRG Pak, OGDCL, Telecard Limited, Pak Elektron, Dewan Cement and Silk Bank Limited.
Quarterly results of Nishat Mills and United Bank Limited were "above market expectations" which added to the scrips 2.0 and 0.8 percent, respectively. Fauji Fertiliser Company and Pak Elektron's (PAEL) earnings were below expectations; the stocks fell 1.8 and 1.1 percent. Futures trade ballooned to 86.87 million contracts.