KARACHI: The stock market gained 231 points on Friday while witnessing range bound activity during the day.
The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 34,350 points as against 34,120 points showing an increase of +231 points.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market traded range bound for the most part of the session but saw gaining volumes and points by the end that reflects an increase of 231 points.
Cement, Fertilizer and Pharma stocks showed signs of recovery. Some of the scrips in Pharma sector hit upper circuit like AGP and FEROZ. Banking sector stocks showed selling pressure amid low trading volumes.
Cement sector led the volumes with 16.1 million shares, followed by Technology (10.8 million) and Inv Banks (7.5 million). Among scrips, MLCF topped the chart with 6.6 million shares, followed by JSCL (5.2 million) and TRG (4.3 million).
Sectors contributing to the performance include Cement (+54 points), E&P (+50 points), Fertilizer (+46 points), Pharma (+45 points), Textile (+12 points) and Banks (-13 points).
Volumes declined from 143.6 million shares to 89.1 million shares (-38 percent DoD). Average traded value also declined by 29 percent to reach US$ 24.3 million as against US$ 33.9 million.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include MLCF, JSCL, TRG, UNITY and MACFL, which formed 27 percent of total volumes.
Stocks that contributed positively to the index include ENGRO (+41 points), POL (+21 points), LUCK (+15 points), SEARL (+13 points) and MARI (+13 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include MCB (-12 points), BAFL (-5 points), PSO (-3 points), SNGP (-3 points), and KAPCO (-2 points).
