LAHORE: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) cut down further on losses and ended positively. The KSE 100 index after a phenomenal 2016 has been the worst performer across the region in 2017. However Pakistani equities extended on gains seen on Wednesday with the recovery spawning a new set of legs as investors lined up for the Santa Claus rally. Expectations of timely elections and ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif tapping his brother Shehbaz as next in line to the throne helped the index gain 508 points or 1.3 per cent. Participation improved; volumes rose 39 per cent day on day basis while value was up 40 per cent.
The KMI 30 index added 1.36 per cent or 875.37 points to its bank and reached 65,379.83. The KSE All Share Index was higher by 157.54 points with 182 advancers and 148 decliners.
Top 10 Index point contributors were UBL (+3.6 per cent), ENGRO (+3.6 per cent), HBL (+1.5 per cent), DAWH (+3.6 per cent), SNGP (+5 per cent), PSO (+3 per cent), ISL (+5 per cent), LUCK (+1.1 per cent), MCB (+0.8 per cent) and NBP (+3.2 per cent); adding 285 points.
On the sector front; banks added 164 points, fertilisers 93 points, OMCs 67 points, cement 58 points, engineering surged 38 points with all four stocks ISL, INIL, ASTL and CSAP hitting their upper limit; whereas food sector shed 14 points.
A sight of relief for investors came from the volume levels. The market volumes which dropped to over 2 year low earlier this week improved to 179.63 million on Thursday. TRG Pakistan Limited (TRG +5.00 per cent) ruled the volume chart with 14.98 million shares exchanged. Dewan Salman Fibre Limited (DSFL) at its lower circuit breaker with a loss of 45.45 per cent was next as 13.36 million shares of the script were exchanged. DG Khan Cement Company Limited (DGKC +2.36 per cent) was next with trade of 8.81 million shares.
Steel sparkled as acceleration in world steel production eased (+3.7 per cent year on year basis in November 2017) with Chinese output falling 8.5 per cent month on a month basis to a 9-month low of 66 million tonnes, as the world’s largest player aims to cut excess capacity and curb emissions.
