Stocks add 177 points in volatile session

'The market opened on a negative note but bounced back strongly in the second half, buoyed by refinery, cement and oil & gas marketing scrips'

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) staged a minor recovery on Friday after losing over 700 points in the previous session, with the benchmark index gaining over 170 points to close just shy of 45,000 mark.

Global equity markets, on the other hand, showed a negative trend, whereas crude oil prices also inched lower from the previous close; WTI crude price declining 0.18pc to $59.95 while Brent crude price falling 0.32pc to $63.08 (as at 5:06pm PST).

“The market opened on a negative note but bounced back strongly in the latter half, with refinery, cement, steel, oil & gas marketing stocks witnessing buying activity,” a report issued by Arif Habib Ltd read. “The anticipation of SBP’s monetary policy, which was announced after the conclusion of the session, had little effect on investor sentiment.”

MARKET SUMMARY

The benchmark KSE-100 Index endured a volatile session today, recording its intraday low at 44,393.28 (-330.81 points) and high at 45,172.33 (+448.24 points). It settled higher by 177.22 points at 44,901.31.

Among other indices, the KMI-30 index gained 216.68 points to close at 73,816.55, while the KSE All Share Index added 94.36 points, closing at 30,750.20.

The overall market volumes contracted from 554.05 million shares in the previous session to 484.63 million shares (-13pc). Average traded value also declined 9pc, from $152.8 million to $140.0 million. Byco Petroleum Pakistan Ltd (BYCO +9.96pc), K-Electric Ltd (KEL +3.40pc) and TRG Pakistan Ltd (TRG +1.71pc) led the volume chart, exchanging 101.38 million, 38.24 million and 30.60 million shares, respectively.

Sectors that kept the benchmark index afloat included power generation & distribution (+50.74 points), technology & communication (+43.82 points) and oil & gas marketing (+43.59 points). Among the companies, Habib Bank Ltd (HBL +62.48 points), Pakistan State Oil Company Ltd (PSO +32.61 points) and TRG Pakistan Ltd (+25.85 points) remained the top contributors.

Adding 8.20pc to its cumulative market capitalization, the refinery sector ended as the session’s top performer, with Attock Refinery Ltd (ATRL 7.50pc), Pakistan Refinery Ltd (PRL 7.47pc) and National Refinery Ltd (NRL 6.64pc) posting significant gains.

1 COMMENT

Comments are closed.

Must Read

PM for ensuring third party validation in all government procurements

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday directed the relevant authorities to ensure third party validation including quality insurance in all the government procurements. Chairing a...