KARACHI: The stock market gained 78 points on Tuesday as benchmark index was remained traded in a narrow band.
The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 31,829 points as against 31,751 points showing an increase of 78 points.
Analysts at Arif Habib said that the KSE-100 index continued trading in a narrow band with limited upside. The index plunged by 315 points during the session and recovered +141 points later on.
Selling pressure was mostly observed in Cement, Banks and Oil & Gas scrips. Cement sector led the volumes with 25.6 million shares, out of which MLCF realized 17.6 million shares, followed by FCCL (2.9 million)
Banking sector followed Cement with 8 million shares, which was mainly contributed by UBL, BAFL and BOP. Power sector ranked third among top volume leaders, registering trade volume of 7.6 million shares, mostly contributed by KEL (4.6 million) and HUBC (2 million).
Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (-40 points), E&P (+33 points), Chemical (+19 points), O&GMCs (+17 points), and Food (+10 points).
Volumes inched up from 86.6 million shares to 88.7 million shares (+2 percent DoD). Average traded value also posted a slight increase from US$ 24.8 million to US$ 24.9 million (+0.3 percent DoD).
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include MLCF, KEL, FCCL, PAEL and DGKC, which formed 34 percent of total volumes.
Stocks that contributed positively include PPL (+23 points), COLG (+13 points), PSO (+13 points), BAHL (+12 points) and LUCK (+10 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include MCB (-15 points), UBL (-15 points), HBL (-14 points), MEBL (-10 points), and HUBC (-10 points).
