KARACHI: The stock market gained 435 points on Wednesday owing to lower than anticipated inflation numbers.
The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 30,244 points as against 29,810 points showing an increase of 435 points.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the release of Consumer Price Index (CPI) data proved to be required stimulus that the investors were waiting for.
Latest release of CPI indicates a lower than anticipated reading and gave confidence to the view that SBP will likely consider revising down the policy rate.
Buying activity was observed almost across the board with the exception of banking sector scrips, which kept the blue chips in banking sector universe in red and the main reason behind -342 points earlier in the session.
In totality, the index spiked by 568 points by close of session and ended at +557 points (unadjusted). Cement sector led the upsurge in index, which was supported by O&GMCs and E&P sectors where OGDC and PPL also hit upper circuit.
Sectors that led the volumes table included Cement (29.2 million), Banks (18 million) and Technology (13.5 million). Among scrips, MLCF (11.4 million), FCCL (9.9 million) and UNITY (9.4 million) contributed to the performance.
Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (+148 points), Cement (+81 points), Fertilizer (+56 points), O&GMCs (+46 points), Power (+20 points), Banks (-33 points).
Volumes doubled from 64 million shares to 128.7 million shares (+101 percent DoD). Average traded value also increased by 100 percent DoD to reach US$ 31.2 million as against US$ 15.6 million.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include MLCF, FCCL, UNITY, WTL and LOTCHEM, which formed 35 percent of total volumes.
Stocks that contributed positively include ENGRO (+61 points), OGDC (+56 points), PPL (+54 points), LUCK (+46 points) and MCB (+39 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include BAHL (-38 points), MEBL (-25 points), FFC (-17 points), NBP (-7 points), and HBL (-7 points).
