KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued to head north on Wednesday, with the benchmark index crossing the 46,000 barrier amid improved market sentiment.
Equity markets around the world also witnessed a positive trend, whereas crude oil prices inched up from the previous close; WTI crude price rising 2.09pc to $61.00, while Brent crude price increasing 2.14pc to $64.05 (as at 3:54pm PST).
“The market stayed positive for the most part in excitement of Senate elections. Besides, energy chain received fresh flows from investors on the back of release of funds from the government after conclusion of deal with IPPs. Other than banks and E&P stocks, most companies on the bourse witnessed price gains,” a report issued by Arif Habib Ltd read.
MARKET SUMMARY
Reminiscent of yesterday, the benchmark KSE-100 Index remained in the green throughout the session, registering its intraday high at 46,189.25 after adding 224.98 points. It settled higher by 196.51 points at 46,160.78.
Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index accumulated 618.78 points to end at 77,024.79, while the KSE All Share Index added 130.59 points, closing at 31,665.08.
The overall market volumes increased from 399.16 million shares in the previous session to 402.11 million shares (0.7pc). Average traded value also inched up 2pc, from $146.2 million to $149.6 million. Azgard Nine Ltd (ANL +2.80pc), TRG Pakistan Ltd (TRG 0.00pc) and Byco Petroleum Pakistan Ltd (BYCO +2.71pc) led the volume chart, exchanging 32.02 million, 27.76 million and 27.57 million shares, respectively.
Sectors that kept the benchmark index afloat included cement (+52.44 points), oil & gas marketing (+26.84 points) and engineering (+25.75 points). Among the companies, MCB Bank Ltd (MCB +21.84 points), International Industries Ltd (INIL +20.09 points) and Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Ltd (SNGP +16.92 points) remained the top contributors.
Adding 1.28pc to its cumulative market capitalization, the oil & gas marketing sector eded as the session’s top performer, with SNGPL (+5.72pc), HASCOL (+1.12pc) and HTL (+3.06pc) posting decent gains.
