Equities ended on a positive note Thursday with the KSE-100 index gaining another 285 points or 0.72 percent to close at 39,792 points. Volatile, the benchmark index moved both ways to hit the intraday high and low of 39,866 and 39,503 points, respectively. "Stocks closed bullish led by cement, textile and banking scrips on strong valuations," viewed analyst Ahsan Mehanti.
He said pressure remained in the session on falling crude prices and uncertainty in global equities. "China SOEs bid for Abraaj stake in K-Electric, MCB Bank expected deal to acquire NIB Bank and OGDC, PPL hydrocarbon well discovery in the Nashpa field played a catalyst role in the bullish close," said Mehanti, a director at Arif Habib Corp. On the ready-counter, trading turnover was recorded higher at 297 million shares compared to 140 million of last session. The traded value also settled in green appreciating to Rs 12.6 billion as against Wednesday's Rs 7.67 billion. The second last session saw perhaps the largest number of scrips traded on the bourse, 414, of which 288 posted gains, 108 lost their worth and 18 stayed unchanged.
Offshore investors sold out net portfolios worth $3.21 million. While individuals made net buying of $5948, institutions and Overseas Pakistanis offloaded their positions to the tune of $3.19 million and $24,237. The market capital accumulated to Rs 7.97 trillion as K-Electric kept leading volumes with 25 million of its listed stocks changing hands each closing up at Rs 8.92. Other most-traded issues were Dewan Cement, SNGPL, NIB Bank, Dewan Motors, Dewan Salman, TRG Pakistan, Descon Oxychem, Byco Petroleum and SSGC. Futures trade rose to 87.55 million contracts from the previous 52 million.