KARACHI: It was a partly cloudy day at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), as the indices remained volatile throughout the trading session before landing in the green zone.
Foreign investors offloaded equities worth $7.97 million on Tuesday with major selling witnessed in the cement ($1.48 million) and oil and gas exploration ($3.14 million) sectors.
Losing 123.42 points, the KSE-100 Index slipped to its intraday low at 37,671.63. The index then managed to recover its losses and closed higher by 327.67 points at 38,122.72. The KMI-30 Index gained 140.77 points to end at 61,361.57, while the KSE All Share Index accumulated 257.23 points, closing at 27,062.69.
The overall volumes declined from 488.70 million in the previous session to 228.35 million. Unity Foods Limited (UNITY +0.39pc), Fauji Foods Limited (FFL +3.53pc) and Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited (MLCF +5.01pc) led the volume chart. The scripts had exchanged 24.03 million, 20.01 million and 15.32 million shares, respectively.
Sectors that helped the index accumulate gains included banking (+132.30 points), power generation and distribution (+31.05 points) and tobacco (+30.90 points). Among the companies, MCB Bank Limited (MCB +53.38 points), Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited (FFC +39.13 points) and Pakistan Tobacco Company Limited (PAKT +32.09 points) contributed the maximum points to the index.
The automobile parts and accessories sector (+4.07pc) turned out to be the top performer of the day. Atlas Battery Limited (ATBA +5.00pc) and Exide Pakistan Limited (EXIDE +5.00pc) touched their upper circuit breakers, while Thal Limited (THALL +4.83pc) and Agriautos Industries Limited (AGIL +4.40pc) also closed with decent gains.