KARACHI: Extending the rally from the previous session, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed on Thursday with decent gains.
Foreign investors turned once again closed the preceding session on Wednesday as net sellers with a net outflow of $0.518 million.
Adding 422.95 points, the benchmark KSE-100 Index marked its intraday high at 33,862.64. It closed higher by 322.79 points at 33,762.48. The KMI-30 Index closed at 54,742.34 after gaining 649.51 points, while the KSE All Share Index settled higher by 233.71 points at 24,537.83.
The overall market volumes improved from 116.94 million in the previous session to 121.33 million. Worldcall Telecom (WTL +0.99pc), Dost Steels Limited (DSL +10.60pc) and Lotte Chemical Pakistan Limited (LOTCHEM +0.31pc) led the volume chart. the scripts had exchanged 17.23 million, 5.40 million and 5.11 million shares respectively.
Sectors that guided the index north on Wednesday included oil and gas exploration (+114.98 points), banking (+78.37 points) and fertiliser (+38.04 points). Among the companies, Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDC +40.58 points), Pakistan Oilfields Limited (POL +32.47 points) and Pak Petroleum Limited (PPL +26.66 points) remained the top contributors to the index.
The oil and gas exploration sector added 2.19pc to its cumulative market capitalization. Pakistan Oilfields Limited (POL +3.00pc), Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDC +2.27pc), Mari Petroleum Company Limited (MARI +2.46pc) and Pak Petroleum Limited (PPL +1.63pc) all closed with decent gains.
Millat Tractors Limited (MTL -1.98pc) announced earnings per share of Rs8.04 for the first quarter of FY19 (Rs25.36 in 1QFY18), Engro Corporation Limited (ENGRO +1.17pc) recorded an EPS of Rs7.40 for the third quarter of FY19 (Rs6.25 in 3QFY18) and Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited (MLCF -3.22pc) posted an EPS of Rs-2.20 for 1QFY19 (Rs0.58 in 1QFY18).
