Equity market gains 166 points in mixed trading

Equity market gains 166 points in mixed trading

KARACHI: The equity market gained 166 points on Monday in mixed trading sessions.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 37,504 points as against 37,338 points showing an increase of 166 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market continued the trend showed last week with an upward move of 361 points during the session but also saw profit booking in sectors (Cement, Engineering, Banks) which took the Index up last week.

Among Cement sector, FCCL, MLCF and PIOC contributed significantly in the top 10 traded volumes.

O&GMCs continued driving upward with SNGP trading at upper circuit and closing at that level.

Friday saw SNGP announcing Board meeting in last week of April, which gave Investors confidence in scrip.

Among Banks, HBL and UBL saw price gains but last half hour saw selling pressure in HBL.

Cement Sector topped volumes table with around 37 million shares, followed by Banks (around 25 million).

Among Scrips, PAEL consecutively outperformed with 18 million traded volume and trading near upper circuit. KEL was also able to garner around 14 million shares however, its price declined by 3.4 percent.

Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (+55 points), O&GMCs (+31 points), Fertilizer (+27 points), Cement (+20 points), Food (+18 points), Insurance (-14 points).

Volumes declined slightly from 189.4 million shares to 172 million (-9 percent DoD). Average traded value however, increased by 15 percent to reach US$ 43.6 million as against US$ 37.8 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include PAEL, KEL, BOP, FCCL and TRG, which formed 38 percent of total volumes.

Stocks that contributed positively include HBL (+33 points), SNGP (+22 points), NESTLE (+14 points), FCCL (+11 points), and MCB (+11 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include PMPK (-8 points), KEL (-8 points), EFUG (-7 points), POL (-7 points) and ABOT (-6 points).