Bullish sentiments prevailed on Pakistan Stock Exchange on the back of fresh buying by both local and foreign investors in various sectors Tuesday. BRIndex100 gained 59.88 points or 1.28 percent to close at 4,739.93 points. BRIndex 100 touched intraday high of 4,745.87 points and intraday low of 4,679.37 points. The volume stood at 203.357 million shares.
BRIndex30 increased by 418.92 points or 1.83 percent to 23,368.81 points with a total volume of 139.591 million shares. The benchmark KSE-100 index surged by 411.85 points to 43,253.26 points. Trading activity also improved as daily volumes on the ready counter increased to 218.570 million shares as compared to 113.787 million shares traded Monday.
Foreign investors remained net buyers of shares worth $1.9 million shares. The market capitalization increased by Rs 72 billion to Rs 8.965 trillion. Out of total 391 active scrips, 271 closed in positive, 108 in negative while the value of 12 stocks remained unchanged. Dost Steel was the volume leader with 27.287 million shares. It gained Rs 0.63 to close at Rs 13.22 followed by WorldCall Telecom that inched up by Rs 0.49 to close at Rs 3.75 with 16.411 million shares.
Rafhan Maize and Nestle Pakistan were the top gainers with Rs 225.59 and Rs 103.33, respectively to close at Rs 7,486.30 and Rs 13,000.00. Colgate Palmolive and Sapphire Fiber were the top losers with Rs 96.25 and Rs 62.79, respectively to close at Rs 2,203.75 and Rs 1,193.22. BR Commercial Banks Index gained 52.8 points or 0.63 percent to close at 8,426.08 points with total turnover of 12.981 million shares. BR Cement Index lost 0.46 points or 0.01 percent to close at 6,071.47 points with total volumes of 13.221 million shares.
BR Oil and Gas Index increased by 56.65 points or 1.14 percent to close at 5,007.63 points with 7.635 million shares. BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 1,296.86, up 27.76 points or 2.19 percent with total turnover of 36.996 million shares. BR Power Generation and Distribution Index gained 76.14 points or 1.11 percent to close at 6,909.49 points with total turnover of 6.675 million shares. Maaz Mulla at JS Global Capital said that bullish sentiments prevailed at the market, taking KSE-100 index up by 412 points to close at 43,253. E&P sector closed in the green as crude oil prices rose back to its five-month high; PPL (up 0.58 percent) and OGDC (up 0.16 percent) were the major gainers of the mentioned sector. Fertilizer sector stocks witnessed strong buying and gained to contribute 118 points to the KSE-100 index, where FFC (up 5.0 percent), FATIMA (up 2.84 percent) and EFERT (up 2.79 percent) were key performers. DGKC (up 0.47 percent) from the cement sector gained as it announced financial results for FY17, an EPS of Rs 18.20 and a DPS of Rs 7.5. ATRL (up 3.65 percent) from the refinery sector observed bullish sentiments during the last few minutes and closed near its upper circuit.