KARACHI: Opened on positive note, the Pakistan Stock Exchange shed all the early gains and closed flat as the benchmark 100-index gained 27.43 points to reach 42772.25 on Wednesday.
The stocks recorded the highest trading level of 43060.68 points and lowest level of 42676.51 points, with the volume of 140.84 million shares and value of Rs7.21 billion. As many as 337 companies were active; of which 163 advanced, 162 declined and 12 remained unchanged.
Faysal Bank Limited was the volume leader with 18.27 million shares, shedding Rs0.02 to reach Rs23.99. It was followed by Pakistan Elektron Ltd with 6.91 million shares, losing Rs0.28 to end at Rs37.16 and Fauji Cement Co Ltd with 6.90 million shares, dropping Rs0.11 to close at Rs25.60.
The top three gainers were Unilever Pakistan Foods Ltd with price per share of 7998 (303), Pakistan Tobacco Co Ltd with price per share of 2170 (100) and Ghandhara Industries Ltd of 723.20 (15.16).
The top three losers were Island Textile Mills Ltd with price per share of 1031.51 (-53.49), ICI Pakistan Limited with price per share of 870 (-19.29) and Hino Pak Motor Limited share of 989.33 (-15.70).
The stocks opened on bullish day and crossed the psychological barrier of 43,000 after adding 292 points to reach 43037 in early trading. The Pakistan Stock Exchange became bearish till midday after shedding 41 points to drop to 42703 level.
Bears were defeated in Tuesday’s trading session at the Pakistan Stock Exchange despite tension in the political environment as the market witnessed major recovery.
Stock market opened positive and touched a high of +1,022 points as institutional participation was witnessed mainly in the main board stocks. Market remained positive throughout the day and closed at 42,745 points after gaining 1,096 points.
Positive sentiments in the market can be attributed to attractive valuations of the KSE 100-index stocks. Overall, volumes stood at 141m shares, while value traded stood at $62m. Buying was largely driven by value hunters with commercial banks heavyweights HBL (+1.99%), UBL (+2.21%), ABL (+2.47%) and MCB (+1.22%) leading the charts. E&P sector closed higher (+2.4%) than its previous day’s close as crude oil prices edged higher, staying near their strongest levels in three-and-a-half-years. POL (+5%) closed at its upper circuit and OGDC (+1.42%) and PPL (+3.67%) closed in the green.
Valued buying was witnessed in the cement sector as investors cherry-picked stocks. CHCC (+4.87%) and PIOC (+4.91%) closed near their upper circuit, while FCCL (+4.47%), MLCF (+3.92%) and DGKC (+3.09%) closed in the green zone.
