KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange Wednesday touched another record height of 39434.97 points level after gaining 287.64 points at closing.
The stocks recorded the highest trading level of 39592.03 points and lowest level of 39129.66 points, with the volume of over 224.25 million shares, having about Rs 13.26 billion value. As many as 344 companies were active; of which 157 advanced, 170 declined and 17 remained unchanged.
Cement was the top traded sector with 34,611,200 volume, while chemical remained second with 25,601,100 volume.
Dewan Cement was the volume leader with 25 million shares, losing Rs 1.00 to finish at Rs 15.40. It was followed by Dewan Motor with 17.86 million shares, gaining Rs 0.83 to close at Rs 18.90 and Agritech Limited with 14.86 million shares, losing Rs 0.13 to close at Rs 12.80.
The top three gainers were Philip Morris Pak with price per share 1543.10 (33.27), Indus Motor Co with price per share of 1185.33 (29.70) and Sapphire Fiber price per share of 565 (23.50).
The top three losers were Bata (Pak) with price per share of 3755 (-70), Island Textile with price per share of 900 (-45) and Pak Tobacco per share of 1160.50 (-30.50).
Earlier, the stock market started day with bullish note and added 263.91 points to touch 39411.24 points level in early trading. The bullish note continued till midday at Pakistan Stock Exchange as the benchmark 100-index gained 306.27 points to reach 39453.60 points.
On Tuesday, the stock witnessed range-bound activity as the benchmark KSE 100-index rallied by 130 points (0.33%) and closed at 39147.33 points. The PSX index was led by the pharmaceutical sector that rallied as news circulated that notification for increase in prices of drugs was issued by Drug Regulation Authority (DRAP). SEARL (up 4.82%) and ABOT (2.08%) were the biggest index movers in the sector, dealers said. Volumes increased by 19.4% to 197m shares while value also increased by 17.5% to Rs 11.4b/$108m. UBL announced above expected result with EPS of 5.7/share along with Rs 3 cash dividend which led the stock to gain by 2%. HCAR also announced its EPS of 7.4/share. Stock declined by 1.3% even though result was above market consensus.
