KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) turned positive on Friday, eroding most of the losses of the previous day, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining 263.35 points (+0.58 percent) to close at 45,345.65 points.
The market opened on a negative note and remained bearish for the first 15 minutes of the session; however, the market later followed the trend of global markets and remained positive throughout the session. However, volumes remained low during the session.
The KSE-100 Index moved in a range of 395.29 points, showing an intraday low of 44,968.90 points and a high of 45,364.19 points.
A total of 359 companies traded shares in the stock exchange, out of them shares of 213 closed up, shares of 124 closed down while shares of 22 companies remained unchanged. Out of 93 traded companies in the KSE-100 Index, 64 closed up, 25 closed down and 4 remained unchanged.
The overall market volumes decreased by 103.04 million to 242.26 million shares. Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index decreased by 48.60 million to 84.44 million shares. The number of total trades decreased by 28,423 to 97,403, while the value traded decreased by Rs5.31 billion to Rs7.93 billion.
Among scrips, TELE topped the volumes with 26.15 million shares, followed by WTL (21.66 million) and TRG (18.99 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included TELE, WTL, TRG, UNITYR3, and SILK, which formed around 40 percent of total volumes. 242.26
The news of over Rs60 billion payment from the Power Division to 12 independent power producers, 40 percent of total agreed amount as first instalment, improved the sentiment at the market and oil and gas exploration and power sectors remained positive. The IPPs which were paid included: Atlas Power; Attock Gen; Engro Energy; Saif Power; Halmore Power; Hub Power; Liberty Power; Nishat Power; Orient Power; Foundation Power; Nishat Chunian; and Saphire Electric. They received one-third of the amount each in cash, Sukuk and PIB bonds on Thursday last, according to a media report.
The major sectors taking the index towards north were power generation & distribution, fertilizer, engineering and food. The major sectors taking the index toward south were chemical, pharmaceutical and technology & communication.
