KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed positive on Wednesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index climbing 90 points to close at 46,104.
The index remained in the positive zone throughout the session, with the benchmark index hitting the day’s high of 46,448 points before close.
In all, 270 million shares worth Rs13.8b changed hands. Of the total of 371 traded scrips, 201 advanced, 151 declined and 19 remained unchanged. The chemical sector dominated trading for the third session in a row with 54.7m shares traded while the banking and cement sectors followed with 40.7m and 29.7m shares traded.
The stocks gained 196 points in early trading to reach 46209 level. The Pakistan Stock Exchange was on upward trajectory till midday as the benchmark 100-index added 233 points to take the tally to 46246 level.
Yesterday the stocks rose to eight-month high and also crossed 46,000-point mark after 160 sessions. KSE 100-share index closed positive for the fifth straight session, depicting revival of investors’ confidence after currency devaluation of 9 percent in last four months and expected resolution of declining foreign exchange reserves through intake of friendly loans and amnesty scheme. The market index closed 272 points up at 46,013 points.
Fauji Fertilizer company surged 4 percent, as BoD of the company approved investment of USD39m in Thar Energy Limited (TEL). Overall contribution of fertilizer sector remained 72 points to the index, followed by E&Ps (70 points) and automobile assemblers (45 points).
Market participation in terms of volumes traded improved by 8 percent. Similarly, value went up by 6 percent.
Top five stocks, POL (+5 percent), FFC (+3.6 percent), MTL (+5 percent), BAHL (+0.7 percent) & THALL (+5 percent) added 190 points to the index gain whereas stocks including HBL (-0.8 percent), COLG (-5 percent), KTML (-0 percent), JLICL (-3.5 percent) & PAKT (-1.9 percent) withheld 53 points from the index.
