KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) managed to close in the positive zone after a range-bound session saw the benchmark KSE-100 index gain 66 points in the last session of the week.
The stocks recorded the highest trading level of 42969.38 points and lowest level of 42749.42 points, with the volume of 59.22 million shares and value of Rs3.05 billion. As many as 307 companies were active; of which 138 advanced, 150 declined and 19 remained unchanged.
Dolmen City REIT was the volume leader with 12.35 million shares, shedding Rs0.13 to reach Rs13.15. It was followed by Pakistan Elektron Ltd with 4.39 million shares, dropping Rs0.39 to end at Rs38.11 and TRG Pakistan Ltd with 2.97 million shares, adding Rs0.42 to close at Rs28.36.
The top three gainers were Colgate Palmolive (Pak) Ltd with price per share of 3150 (150), Unilever Pakistan Foods Ltd with price per share of 8000 (149.15) and Bata Pakistan Ltd of 2035 (35).
The top three losers were Philip Morris (Pakistan)Ltd with price per share of 2974.10 (-155.36), Sapphire Textile Mills Ltd with price per share of 1399.71 (-73.66) and Indus Motor Company Ltd share of 1559.99 (-19.40).
The stocks opened on bearish note and shed 87 points to reach 42759 level in early trading. The PSX remained bearish till midday as the benchmark 100-index dropped 29 points to reach 42818 points.
On Thursday, the volatility prevailed in the stock market as the 100-share index remained range-bound, trading between -50 to +373 points, and finally closing up 300 points at 42,847 points.
However hefty buying was witnessed in the eleventh hour as investors took the opportunity to accumulate stocks on attractive levels. Volume traded was slightly better than Wednesday’s, where PAEL (+1.10%) was the volume leader for the day with 14m shares of the stock changing hands. The components of the export package are estimated to provide competitive benefits of around Rs65b annually. OGDC (+1.79%), MCB (+2.02%), POL (+1.82%) and HBL (+1.02%) were the major leaders for the day cumulatively contributing +124 points to the index.
Banking sector led the gains as sector heavyweights such as MCB (+2.02%), BAFL (+1.72%), FABL (+4.76%) and HBL (+1.02%) closed in the green zone. Investors’ interest was witnessed in the E&P sector despite crude oil prices edging lower in the international market. OGDC (+1.79%), POL (+1.82%) and PPL (+1.22%) were the major movers of the aforementioned sector.
