KARACHI: Bulls paraded back to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday, as the indices remained in the positive territory despite negativity surrounding the second wave of coronavirus.
Global equity markets also displayed a positive trend, whereas crude oil prices inched further up from the previous close; WTI crude price appreciating 1.21pc to $43.59 while Brent crude price rising 1.04pc to $46.52.
“Consistent increase in international crude oil prices helped exploration & production stocks stage a comeback, whereas banks and oil & gas marketing companies also traded positively for the most part of the session,” a report issued by Arif Habib Ltd read. “Although the cement stocks saw selling pressure earlier in the day, mainly due to the anticipation of slow growth in cement despatches, renewed buying interest was seen in the sector towards the end, which lifted the index over 200 points.”
MARKET SUMMARY
The benchmark KSE-100 Index remained in the green throughout the day, registering its intraday high at 40,021.33 after accumulating 388.81 points. It settled higher by 230.84 points at 39,863.36.
Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index gained 476.88 points to close at 63,526.38, while the KSE All Share Index added 126.83 points, ending at 28,058.88.
The overall market volumes declined from 195.43 million shares in the previous session to 174.70 million shares (-11pc). Average traded value also dropped by 9pc, from $46.7 million to $42.4 million. Unity Foods Ltd (UNITY +2.03pc), Maple Leaf Cement Factory Ltd (MLCF -0.88pc) and TRG Pakistan Ltd (TRG +1.70pc) led the volume chart, exchanging 19.01 million, 14.52 million and 12.67 million shares, respectively.
Sectors that drove the benchmark index north included oil & gas exploration (+66.95 points), banking (+40.93 points) and fertilizer (+25.58 points). Among the companies, Pakistan Oilfields Ltd (POL +23.43 points), Dawood Hercules Corporation Ltd (DAWH +18.02 points) and Mari Petroleum Company Ltd (MARI +17.50 points) remained the top contributors.
Adding 1.40pc to its total market capitalization, the oil & gas exploration ended as the session’s top performer, with MARI (+2.26pc), POL (+2.20pc), Pak Petroleum Ltd (PPL +0.82pc) and Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (OGDC +1.15pc) posting decent gains.
Meanwhile, in a notification to the exchange, MARI informed that it has entered into a joint venture arrangement with YB Pakistan Ltd, Arif Habib Equity (Pvt) Ltd, Liberty Mills Ltd, and Reliance Commodities (Pvt) Ltd pertaining to a joint venture through National Resources (Pvt) Ltd (NRL) to potentially undertake mineral mining projects in the Province of Balochistan. MARI will initially acquire approximately 20pc equity share in NRL.
