KARACHI: Bulls controlled the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) for the second consecutive session on Wednesday, with the indices accumulating gains all day long amid increase in market volumes.
Global equity markets also showed a positive trend, whereas crude oil prices moved further north from the previous close; WTI crude price increasing 1.36pc to $45.50, while Brent crude price rising 1.44pc to $48.48.
“Exploration & production (E&P) stocks drove the market on Wednesday, contributing heavily to the surge in the index. Crude oil prices increased significantly overnight and maintained the momentum during today’s session as well, which particularly helped those investors who were concerned with the decline in cement despatches to switch to better alternatives,” a report issued by Arif Habib Ltd read. “Banks, textile and fertilizer sectors also contributed to the overall positivity.”
MARKET SUMMARY
Reminiscent of the previous session, the KSE-100 Index remained in the positive zone throughout the day, registering its intraday high at 40,431.56 after gaining 568.20 points. It ended higher by 514.17 points at 40,377.53.
Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index accumulated 1,477.39 points to close at 65,003.77, while the KSE All Share Index gathered 386.86 points, settling at 28,445.86.
The overall market volumes increased from 174.70 million shares in the previous session to 213.11 million shares (+22pc). Average traded value also surged by 42pc, from $42.6 million to $60.7 million. Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim Ltd Right shares (FFBLR -12.97pc), TRG Pakistan Ltd (UNITY +6.16pc) and Unity Foods Ltd (UNITY -1.65pc) led the volume chart, exchanging 28.57 million, 21.16 million and 20.84 million shares, respectively.
Sectors that painted the benchmark index green included oil & gas exploration (+272.33 points), banking (+88.70 points) and technology & communication (+81.16 points). Among the companies, Pak Petroleum Ltd (PPL +91.21 points), Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (OGDC +86.22 points) and Pakistan Oilfields Ltd (POL +63.95 points) remained the top contributors.
Adding 6.18pc to its total market capitalization, the oil & gas exploration sector ended as the session’s top performer, with OGDC (+6.56pc), MARI (+3.60pc), POL (+6.15pc) and PPL (+7.50pc) posting significant gains.
