KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended its three-day losing streak and closed the session in green on Thursday. Indices moved uphill as soon as the session began, but changed their path a few hours later and turned red. The indices then recovered their losses and continued to move north, finally ending the day on a positive note.
According to the latest data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Wednesday, Pakistan’s current account deficit rose to 3.46pc MoM to $1.255 billion in November from $1.213 billion in October.
The KSE 100 index dropped by 48.66 points a while after the start of the session to reach its lowest level of the day. It then recovered its losses and touched its intraday high of 38,379.69 (up by 316.54 points) and finally closed at 38,236.52 after gathering 173.37 points. The KMI 30 index appreciated by 681.33 points and ended at 64,529.03, while KSE All Share index gained 259.16 points to settle at 28,362.94.
Market volumes improved by 35pc from the last session and were recorded at 136.69 million. Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTC -2.83pc) led the volume chart with 11.84 million shares exchanging hands, followed by Pak Elektron Limited (PAEL +5.00pc) with 8.42 million traded shares. Next in line was K-Electric Limited (KEL +0.67pc), maintaining its position among top traded scripts with 8.36 million shares exchanging hands.
Top gainers of the day included the woolen sector (+4.72pc), tobacco sector (+3.58pc), cable and electrical goods sector (+2.74pc), chemical sector (+1.96pc) and textile weaving sector (+1.88pc). On the other hand, jute sector (-1.70pc), modaraba sector (-1.14pc) and close-end mutual fund sector (-0.74pc) ended on losing side.
Al-Abbas Sugar Mills Limited (AABS +5.00pc) touched its upper-circuit breaker after the company announced its results for financial year 2017-18. The company declared a final cash dividend of Rs50 per share in addition to Rs3.00 already paid. Sales surged up by 41pc YoY while earnings per share increased from Rs8.23 in the same period last year to Rs74.52 in the current year.
