KARACHI: The stock market gained 113 points on Tuesday amid low volume and selling pressure. The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 33,856 points as against 33,743 points showing an increase of 113 points.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market went up today by 308 points but unable sustain the selling pressure and went down to 86 points.
Last half hour of trading brought the market back in positive territory. Overall volumes remained low at 60 million shares for the third consecutive session.
Cement sector led the volumes table with 12 million shares, followed by Chemical with 10 million shares.
LOTCHEM, on the back of all time high product margins, remained in demand and made highest volume with 6.2 million shares, followed by MLCF (5.6 million).
Index drivers such as ENGRO, HUBC and LUCK saw selling pressure near market close that kept the upside in index in check.
Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (+66 points), Fertilizer (+11 points), Pharma (+8 points), O&GMCs (+8 points), Cement (+5 points).
Volumes increased merely by 1 percent DoD to reach 60.15 million as against 59.6 million. Average traded value also increased by 3 percent to reach US$ 15.4 million as against US$ 15 million.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include LOTCHEM, MLCF, KEL, DGKC and TRG, which formed 37 percent of total volumes.
Stocks that contributed positively include PPL (+33 points), OGDC (+22 points), DAWH (+20 points), POL (+12 points) and LUCK (+8pt). Stocks that contributed negatively include UBL (-19 points), ENGRO (-10 points), INDU (-8 points), DGKC (-5 points) and SHFA (-3 points).
