KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) failed to carry forward its positive momentum and ended a range-bound session on Tuesday flat.
Foreign investors closed the first session of the trading week (Monday) as net buyers with a net inflow of $1.41 million.
The KSE-100 Index benchmark marked its intraday high at 37,171.04 during the initial hours of the trading. The index remained volatile thereon, stumbling to its day’s low at 36,672.22. It closed flat (-37.54 points) at 36,765.56. The KMI-30 Index fell by 439.40 points to close at 59,977.46, whereas the KSE All Share Index gained 50.34 points, ending at 26,177.27. Out of the total traded shares, 177 advanced while 156 declined.
The overall market volumes were recorded at 292.06 million (up 3.2pc on a daily basis). Unity Foods Limited (UNITY +1.54pc), Pak Elektron Limited (PAEL +0.97pc) and TRG Pakistan Limited (TRG +5.42pc) led the volume chart. The scripts had exchanged 16.15 million, 16.08 million and 14.63 million shares, respectively.
Sectors that helped elevate the KSE-100 Index included power generation and distribution (+80.08 points), automobile assembling (+16.64 points) and food and personal care products (+15.93 points). On the other hand, sectors that contributed negatively to the index included fertiliser (-69.08 points), banking (-48.67 points) and oil and gas exploration (-34.14 points).
The automobile parts and accessories sector turned out as top gainer of the session, adding +3.31pc in its cumulative market capitalisation. Thal Limited (THALL +5.00pc), The General Tyre and Rubber Company of Pakistan Limited (GTYR +4.79pc) and Exide Pakistan Limited (EXIDE +1.62pc) closed with decent gains despite a downward trend in the market.
Meanwhile, in an interview to a foreign media outlet, Habib Bank Limited (HBL -0.25pc) CEO Muhammad Aurangzeb announced that the bank plans to expand in China to tap more business under President Xi Jinping’s flagship infrastructure programme.
