KARACHI: The equity market gained 64 points on Thursday amid selling pressure was seen in energy scrips.
The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PsX) closed at 35,129 points as against 35,066 points showing an increase of 64 points.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market traded in a narrow range between -70 points and +188 points, closing the session +64 points.
E&P sector saw selling pressure that has been the case since international oil prices have faced resistance in the past couple of sessions.
Fertilizer, Cement, Steel and Textile sector scrips performed well today on the back of positive expectations from upcoming Budget, whereas Banks and E&P sectors saw profit booking.
Cement sector led the volumes with 44.4 million shares, followed by Chemical (31.8 million) and Technology (27.7 million).
POWER topped the volumes with 19.2 million shares, followed by TRG (14.5 million) and UNITY (10.8 million).
Sectors contributing to the performance include Fertilizer (+60 points), Cement (+44 points), E&P (-46 points), Banks (-36 points) and Food (-23 points).
Volumes increased from 218.6 million shares to 270.6 million shares (+24 percent DoD). Average traded value also increased by 9 percent to reach US$ 52.6 million as against US$ 48.3 million.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include POWER, TRG, UNITY, EPCL and MLCF, which formed 24 percent of total volumes.
Stocks that contributed positively to the index include DAWH (+27 points), FFC (+25 points), LUCK (+25 points), MEBL (+20 points) and ENGRO (+20 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include UBL (-32 points), HBL (-24 points), OGDC (-22 points), NESTLE (-18 points), and PPL (-15 points).
