KARACHI: Bulls continued to dominate the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), as the indices rallied on first trading session of the week while volumes soared to the highest levels since May 2017.
Foreign investors closed second successive week (November 11-15) as net buyers with a net inflow of $4.18 million. Highest inflow was witnessed in fertiliser ($5.15 million) and banking ($3.76 million) sectors.
According to media reports, the State Bank of Pakistan would announce its monetary policy for next two months on November 22, 2019. Previously, the central bank had kept the policy rate unchanged at 13.25pc.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index recorded its intraday high at 38,452.73 after gaining 868.84 points. It settled higher by 827.67 points or 2.15pc at 38,411.56. The KMI-30 Index gained 1,329.26 points to close at 62,549.91, while the KSE All Share Index ended higher by 534.26 points at 27,248.39. Out of the total traded scripts, 277 advanced and 94 declined.
The overall trading volumes jumped up to 466.08 million, of which 268.79 million came from the 100 index scripts. The Bank of Punjab (BOP +3.59pc), K-Electric Limited (KEL +5.12pc) and Fauji Cement Company Limited (FCCL +2.81pc) topped the volume chart. The scripts had exchanged 37.60 million, 28.39 million and 18.76 million shares, respectively.
Sectors that helped the index accumulate gains included banking (+163.86 points), fertiliser (+131.44 points) and power generation & distribution (+114.29 points). Among the companies, Engro Corporation Limited (ENGRO +99.86 points), Hub Power Company Limited (HUBC +89.04 points) and United Bank Limited (UBL +61.96 points) remained the top contributors to the index.
The automobile assembling sector added 3.03pc to its cumulative market capitalisation. Honda Atlas Cars (Pakistan) Limited (HCAR +5.00pc), Al-Ghazi Tractors Limited (AGTL +5.00pc) and Hinopak Motors Limited (HINO +5.00pc) touched their upper-circuit breakers.
