KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) extended gains for the fifth straight day in another low-volume session on Tuesday, with the KSE-100 Index gaining 107.27 points (+0.23 percent) to close at 45,910.46 points.
The market opened on a positive note and stayed in the green territory throughout the session. The session remained lacklustre due to the recent hike in the prices of petrol and high speed diesel as well as expected hike in gas tariff to cut circular debt; however, these developments kept the oil & gas exploration and marketing companies in the green. The oil stocks also gained momentum as global crude prices soared above $95 a barrel.
On the other hand, the rupee extended gains against the US dollar in the interbank and open markets. However, the market remained somewhat unaffected, which indicated a lack of confidence among investors in the market.
The benchmark index traded in a range of 232.84 points, showing an intraday high of 46,036.03 points and an intraday low of 45,803.19 points, which was the last day’s closing point. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index gained 143.82 points (+0.47 percent) to close at 30,639.33 points, while KMI All Share Islamic Index gained 118.24 points (+0.53 percent) to close at 22,319.41 points.
Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index increased by 18.62 million shares to 57.1 million shares against 38.48 million shares traded a session earlier.
The overall market volumes increased by 13.65 million shares to 117.15 million shares against 103.50 million shares traded a session earlier.
Among scrips, YOUW topped the volumes with 11.65 million shares, followed by SEARLR2 (7.36 million), BIPL (6.07 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to volumes included YOUW, SEARLR2, BIPL, CNERGY, and PRL, which formed over 29pc of total volumes.
A total of 321 companies traded shares in the stock exchange against 307 a session earlier, out of which shares of 160 closed up, shares of 144 closed down while shares of 27 companies remained unchanged. A total of 94 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index against 92 a session earlier, out of which share price of 49 companies closed up, 40 closed down and five remained unchanged.
The number of total trades increased by 2,608 to 75,265 as compared to 72,657 trades recorded in the previous session, while the value traded increased by Rs0.81 billion to Rs4.11 billion as compared to Rs3.3 billion in the previous session.
In terms of rupee, NESTLE remained the top gainer with an increase of Rs100 (+1.43 percent) per share, closing at Rs7,100. The runner-up remained BHAT, the share price of which climbed up by Rs65 (+7.03 percent) to Rs990. SAPL remained the top loser with a decrease of Rs56.92 (-7.5 percent) per share, closing at Rs702.08, followed by MEHT, the share price of which fell by Rs40.27 (-7.5 percent) to close at Rs496.7 per share.
The major sectors taking the index towards north remained oil & gas exploration companies, commercial banks and chemical (26 points each), technology & communication (21 points) and automobile parts & accessories (18 points). The major companies adding points to the index remained UBL (32 points), TRG (26 points), THALL (18 points), OGDC (17 points), and MTL (13 points).
The sectors taking the index towards south were cement (25 points), fertilizer (13 points), power generation & distribution (8 points), engineering (4 points), and investment banks/ investment companies/ securities companies (1 point). The major companies depriving the index of points remained FFC (12 points), MCB and HUBC (11 points each), and LUCK and SYS (8 points each). – TLTP