KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) managed to recover all losses accumulated in the first half of the day and ended the session in the green.
“After a lacklustre start to proceedings on Monday, the fertiliser sector led the way and brought positivity to the index, mainly on the back of EFERT and FFC,” said a report issued by Arif Habib Ltd. “The sector was further aided by a rebound in exploration & production stocks (OGDC and PPL).”
Losing 367.58 points in early trade, the benchmark KSE-100 Index slid to its intraday low at 33,071.36. However, the index rebounded in the second half, rallying 355.93 points to touch its intraday high at 33,794.87. It finally closed higher by 298.97 points at 33,737.92.
Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index gained 174.19 points to end at 24,246.41, while the KMI-30 Index gathered 844.17 points or +1.59pc, settling at 53,846.22.
The overall market volumes increased from 105.9 million shares in the previous session to 161 million shares (+51pc). Average traded value also surged by 83pc, from $20 million to $36.8 million. Unity Foods Ltd (UNITY -1.65pc), Maple Leaf Cement Factory Ltd (MLCF -0.77pc) and TRG Pakistan Ltd (TRG +2.78pc) led the volume chart, exchanging 11.54 million, 8.19 million and 7.32 million shares, respectively.
Sectors that came to the benchmark index’s rescue included fertiliser sector (+122.03 points), oil and gas exploration (+67.52 points) and power generation and distribution (+35.34 points). Among the companies, Engro Corp Ltd (ENGRO +55.82 points), Fauji Fertilizer Company Ltd (FFC +42.70 points) and Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (OGDC +32.18 points) remained the top contributors.
Adding 2.86pc in its cumulative market capitalization, the tobacco sector ended as the session’s top performer, with Philip Morris Pakistan Ltd (PMPK +0.27pc) and Pakistan Tobacco Company Ltd (PAKT +3.72pc) posting decent gains.
