KARACHI: Bulls took charge of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday, with the benchmark index closing positive despite further contraction in market volumes.
Global equity markets also displayed a positive trend, mainly due to the announcement of another coronavirus vaccine by US company Moderna Inc. The vaccine is said to be 94.5pc effective in preventing Covid-19.
“Although the market traded in the green zone throughout the session, activity remained dull due to lack of triggers. SBP is expected to announce monetary policy in the coming week, which gives investors a reason to switch portfolio positions. Banking stocks, especially UBL and MCB, remained in the limelight, whereas exploration & production sector saw selling pressure despite making strides earlier in the day,” a report issued by Arif Habib Ltd read.
Accumulating 459.47 points in early trade, the benchmark KSE-100 Index recorded its intraday high at 40,964.22. It settled higher by 147.92 points at 40,652.67.
Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index gathered 339.77 points to end at 64,867.40, while the KSE All Share Index added 77.32 points, closing at 28,490.01.
The overall market volumes fell from 181.41 million shares in the previous session to 150.33 million shares. Average traded value also declined from $49.9 million to $40 million. TRG Pakistan Ltd (TRG +0.27pc), BankIslami Pakistan Ltd (BIPL -1.09pc) and Soneri Bank Limited (SNBL +1.12pc) led the volume chart, exchanging 9.91 million, 8.77 million and 8.68 million shares, respectively.
Sectors that kept the benchmark index afloat included banking (+92.61 points), oil & gas exploration (+51.58 points) and cement (+22.10 points). Among the companies, United Bank Ltd (UBL +50.70 points), Pakistan Oilfields Ltd (POL +21.81 points) and Pak Petroleum Ltd (PPL +19.97 pts) remained the top contributors.
The oil and gas exploration sector (+0.82pc in market cap) ended as the session’s top performer, with Mari Petroleum Company Ltd (MARI 1.94pc), POL (2.08pc) and PPL (1.55pc) posting decent gains.
Meanwhile, a signing ceremony was held between the PSX and Bank AlFalah Ltd (BAFL +1.75pc), as the latter became the first ‘Market Maker Bank for Debt Securities’ on Tuesday.
